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Re: ownership



The architectural firm owned the physical photographs, as does anyone who subsequently bought them, or would a repository to which they were sold or donated.   Ownership of physical photographs is distinct from ownership of rights in the images.

The rights in the images belong to the photographer/studio.  It is quite unlikely that the contract between the architectural firm and the photographic studio constituted a 'work for hire' agreement.  Usually, when one engages a photographer it is as a professional service and the rights in the images belong to the creator - one is simply paying to have x number of physical copies of a certain type made for one's use.  (An employment arrangement between the photographer and the studio, in the case of a larger business, is likely to create a 'work for hire' situation: the rights would belong to the studio, not the photographer.)  

That the situation here did not constitute 'for hire' is supported by the stamps stating that the negatives are with the studio.  In a 'for hire' situation, one would get the negatives as well as prints.  

One might note that in the case of contracting for architectural services one is usually paying for a onetime license to use a design.  The rights in the design itself remain with the architect (although there may be contractual restrictions on the relicensing of it).   Thus, photographs of a building could also involve rights that belong to the architect!  

R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram, C.A. 
City Archives and Records Division 
City Clerk, 240 Water St
Henderson, NV 89015 

702-568-8334

jai@gty.ci.henderson.nv.us

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