Photographer’s Suit Against Client for Republishing Photos on Facebook Proceeds – Davis v. Tampa Bay Arena
30 06 2012[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric]
Davis v. Tampa Bay Arena, Ltd., 2012 WL 2116136 (M.D. Fla.; June 11, 2012)
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Davis worked from 1998 through 2011 (under various contract arrangements) for Tampa Bay Arena as the in-house photographer photographing events. (For what it’s worth, here’s what looks like Davis’ site.) Davis (smartly) retained ownership of the photographs and licensed them to the arena for limited uses. The agreement in place between the parties allowed for use by the arena in the following ways:
newsletter, advertising, display prints, broadcast, and the venue website.
The arena terminated its relationship with Davis in 2011 but continued to use his photographs. In early 2011, the arena created a Facebook page and posted Davis’ pictures on the page. Apparently Facebook had a feature that allowed users to download photographs at the click of a button, and this feature was available on the arena’s Facebook page. Davis asked the arena to remove the photographs from its Facebook page. The arena demurred, and Davis sued, asserting claims for infringement, conversion, and breach of contract.
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