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Ashley Greene nude pictures - who owns the copyright?

Asked over 2 years ago - Seattle, WA

Ashley Greene nude pictures recently leaked on the Internet. She is a Hollywood actress, from the movie "Twilight" if you haven't heard of her. The famous blogger Perez Hilton hosted the Ashley Greene nude pictures, but then took them down saying Ashley Greene was the copyright owner and therefore only she had a right to show them..

But how is Ashley Greene the copyright owner of the photos? Unless she hired a professional photographer to take the pictures (which I doubt) then wouldn't the photographer be the copyright owner of the nude photos, not Ashley Greene?

Additional information
OK, now in case of personal pictures taken by a friend or a boyfriend... if this is true, then I would have copy rights to the pictures of the other person that I took while they have copy rights to the pictures they took of me? sounds a little hairy, especially that one camera is being used... I am asking because someone took pictures of me and is now posting it all over the internet with my name and address... they also have the pictures i took of them, they stole all of them from me... i know this is beyond copy rights and is a violation of my privacy rights, but i still would like to get clarification on the copy rights question.

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Attorney answers (2)

Pamela Koslyn

Reputation Level 20

Answered over 2 years ago. Business Attorney in Los Angeles, CA.

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The photographer owns the copyright to the photos, whether they were a professional or not. That photographer may have sold the copyrights to her, however. At any rate, this actress has privacy rights (as well as publicity rights, potentially) to them and could prevent their public use on that ground.

Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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Laura Mcfarland-Taylor

Reputation Level 19

Answered over 2 years ago. Trademark Application Attorney in Bolingbrook, IL.

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Ms. Koslyn is correct - the photographer owns the copyright unless he or she sold those rights. As pointed out, however, Ms. Greene does have other rights that would potentially be violated by the posting of these photographs.

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