VIC Photography copyright - who does it belong to?

[AllenYarn]

I have recently be made redundant from my role as a marketing associate, and in my previous employment I have taken a large number of photos and videos to use in marketing champions and to make social media posts on behalf of the business I was working for.

Question, do I own the copyright of those video and photo since I am the one that took them? The issue of who owns the image / video copyright was never discussed in my employment contract.

 

[Nighthelyn]

Dear AllenYarn,

Copyright in works made by an employee in the course of employment under a contract of service is usually owned by employer (s35 Copyright Act 1968), but that assumes that you create the photos and videos during your employment and “in the course of your employment” - that you must have created the intellectual property while you were completing your employed duties. So if you are hired as a photographer in a photography studio likely the employer owns photos you took during your employment. But if you are a marketing executive, all the photos and videos actually published for the business the employer probably owns it (but murky given lack of note in your employment contract), but everything else, it is unclear how directly they are to you completing your employed duties, so you may.

Lack of clarity in your employment contract makes it a bit grey - you may need to seek further legal advice.

Good Luck!

-Nighthelyn

 

[AllenYarn]

Following on from my previous question....

During my time of previous employment, I published a number of photos I took at work to my personal Instagram account to promote sales and products, and now that I have left, the previous work sent me a letter saying I have committed copyright infringement and demanded me to remove those photos / videos from my personal account - is that a valid case? Do I need to comply?

 

[Tim W]

I agree with @Nighthelyn above. So my answer to

Question, do I own the copyright of those video and photo since I am the one that took them?

is also "As an employee, almost certainly not."

 

[Roche1n]

I had a similar situation with a client where we agreed in writing that I’d retain copyright, but they'd get a license to use the images. This came in handy later when they tried to crop my photo and stick it in a picture frame for resale. Since I held the copyright, I could stop that, unless we'd agreed to more usage rights.

 

[MichaelMurfy]

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During my time of previous employment, I published a number of photos I took at work to my personal Instagram account to promote sales and products, and now that I have left, the previous work sent me a letter saying I have committed copyright infringement and demanded me to remove those photos / videos from my personal account - is that a valid case? Do I need to comply?