Photographer Sues Sculptor and Gallery, Alleging Copyright Infringement

Posted: November 14, 2012

[caption id="attachment_10990" align="alignright" width="400"]© alexskopje - Fotolia.com[/caption]The ongoing battle of copyright and issues associated with it continue to arise, and can really cross into gray areas when you're dealing with a contractor or an employee. The easiest way to make sure the copyright question is answered before the work is even done - get it in writing. Make sure you have a written contract to protect your rights, whether you think it might be necessary or not.

Photographer Rodrigo Pereda is suing artist Ivan Navarro and his New York gallery, Paul Kasmin, in federal court, alleging that they infringed on his copyright in a number of instances by allowing his work to be published in and distributed to various publications, without his permission and without credit. He says that he was deprived of his typical licensing fee and that his images were used to boost Mr. Navarro’s career.

In one case, Mr. Pereda alleges, Mr. Navarro and the gallery allowed ARTnews to run an image that he shot of one of Mr. Navarro’s light sculptures in an article without his permission.

Mr. Navarro’s defense? He says that Mr. Pereda didn’t actually take the photo in question, and that Mr. Pereda was just his assistant, and thus wouldn’t have retained copyright to any images that he shot. The case, which seeks $150,000 per each of three claims of infringement, raises some interesting questions about the nature of the relationships between artists and those they hire to help complete their projects in a world where agreements often occur over nothing more than a handshake.

In the suit, Mr. Pereda says that he has worked with Mr. Navarro since the 1990s, when they were both in Chile, and that he was paid by the artist to photograph a number of his sculptures, including White Electric Chair (2005), a neon take on Marcel Breuer’s Wassily Chair, which was reproduced in the January 2012 issue of ARTnews. Their arrangement, Mr. Pereda says, was that he would receive copyright and that the images would be used only for “certain limited purposes,” like gallery fliers and on the gallery’s website. Any additional reproductions of the photos, in magazines, books or newspapers, would require a “separate license” from Mr. Pereda.

The suit also charges Mr. Navarro with having permitted the publication and distribution of Mr. Pereda’s photographs as fine art prints in books, magazines, in newspapers and on the Internet without getting Mr. Pereda’s consent, in one case even forging Mr. Pereda’s signature on a release form. In 2010, when Mr. Pereda asked Mr. Navarro to stop authorizing others to use his photographs, Mr. Navarro responded (via his attorneys) that he would no longer use the images but instead would “re-shoot” the works as needed.

Mr. Pereda is also seeking the return of photographic negatives to his work, which he allegedly stored at Mr. Navarro’s studio while he was looking for a permanent studio for himself, and which Mr. Navarro refused to return after repeated requests.

In recent years, Mr. Navarro’s career has taken off, with works going for as much as $400,000 on the private market, according to the suit. While the sculptor’s career has risen, Mr. Pereda asserts, by “falsely claiming that Mr. Navarro is the photographer and copyright owner of the image,” the sculptor has harmed Mr. Pereda’s professional reputation.

Read the entire article Photographer Sues Sculptor Ivan Navarro and Paul Kasmin Gallery, Alleging Copyright Infringement at GalleristNY.

Biz Tip Provided by Tony Bynum, Owner: Tony Bynum Photography