A Nigerian lawyer has stirred conversation on X (Twitter) after revealing a shocking truth about photo ownership.
She started by saying that the wedding album or pictures people spend millions on doesn’t legally belong to them.
“That wedding picture you’re about to spend millions on tomorrow? Hate to break it to you, it’s not legally yours.” She wrote.
According to her, under the copyright law, the photographer, not the client, owns full rights to any image they take. Expect there’s a written agreement transferring copyright to the client.
She went on to state that, Your wedding album, your birthday shoot, even your fine graduation pictures do not belong to you.
The lawyer explained that when clients pay photographers, they’re often only paying for limited usage rights, like printing or posting on social media, not full ownership.
Which means the photographer retains the right to reuse, publish, or even sell the photos, including your private moments.
Her tweet quickly sparked a debate on the microblogging platform, leaving internet users flooding her comment section with their thoughts.
Below are some of the comments,
“Thanks for this. So my wedding pictures are not mine, I never balance my photographer’s sef. He can keep it.”
“Pls, what about I use my own camera and equipment but employ only the services of the photographer…does that make it my property?”
“We tell them every day, they doubt it. I almost sued a client who was forcefully trying to take my raw files.”
“What you paid for is access, not ownership. Unless copyright is transferred, the photographer holds the rights.”
See the tweet below,
