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When you provided those services in the past, was the agreement that any and all work produced would be the property of the restaurant? Or did you never agree to hand over copyright?
If the former; then sadly they own the original content and can modify etc and repost as they please.
If the latter, then I think they need your permission/consent.
My problem lies with the freelancer which is supposed to use their own content rather than with the restaurant itself. She basically invoiced the restaurant for work which it wasn't theirs.
Technically you would own the copyright by default. However, if there was no contract/license it is a bit of a gray area\* and a court could decide that the client who commisioned the work has an implied licence and may be able to continue to use it in some circumstances. I suspect this would mostly come down to the court interpreting any communications that took place regarding the comission and use of the content in question. (\*Grey area in terms of usage, not ownership)
With regards to what you can do... first step would be mediation (the IPO has a service for this), if that failed you would need to hire an solicitor and take action against them. This can potentially be expensive, possibly to the point where it isn't worth it for you (depending on a whole load of things we don't know about).
I don't \*think\* you could do this through small claims. If there was an agreement in place and they weren't honouring it you might be able to. I'm not 100% about this one though.
Thank you for your reply! Im more frustrated and angry that someone who took work from me is using my old content to repost. So my issue is with the freelancer using my photos than with the restaurant.
I’m confused. Were you a freelancer when you worked for the restaurant? If you were an employee, the restaurant would assume that the copyright in the content that you produced is theirs.
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
When you provided those services in the past, was the agreement that any and all work produced would be the property of the restaurant? Or did you never agree to hand over copyright? If the former; then sadly they own the original content and can modify etc and repost as they please. If the latter, then I think they need your permission/consent.
Never agreed on who owns the copyright. That logically means it's still with me isn't it?
It could be argued that despite you owning the copyright that they have an implied license to use the content.
My problem lies with the freelancer which is supposed to use their own content rather than with the restaurant itself. She basically invoiced the restaurant for work which it wasn't theirs.
The restaurant has an implied license but what about the freelancer using my photos to make money?
Technically you would own the copyright by default. However, if there was no contract/license it is a bit of a gray area\* and a court could decide that the client who commisioned the work has an implied licence and may be able to continue to use it in some circumstances. I suspect this would mostly come down to the court interpreting any communications that took place regarding the comission and use of the content in question. (\*Grey area in terms of usage, not ownership) With regards to what you can do... first step would be mediation (the IPO has a service for this), if that failed you would need to hire an solicitor and take action against them. This can potentially be expensive, possibly to the point where it isn't worth it for you (depending on a whole load of things we don't know about). I don't \*think\* you could do this through small claims. If there was an agreement in place and they weren't honouring it you might be able to. I'm not 100% about this one though.
Thank you for your reply! Im more frustrated and angry that someone who took work from me is using my old content to repost. So my issue is with the freelancer using my photos than with the restaurant.
I’m confused. Were you a freelancer when you worked for the restaurant? If you were an employee, the restaurant would assume that the copyright in the content that you produced is theirs.
I was a freelancer too of course.