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Could my roommate sue me over his "derivative work" on my photos?

I paid a former roommate the cost of ink and photo paper to quickly scan in an old family photograph that I wanted to have fixed up and framed for a relative. He spent less than two minutes on Photoshop doing it, simply adjusting the black levels and adding a slight sepia tone. I was going to have more printed out so I could have a copy framed for another relative, but I had a falling out with this roommate and he is threatening to sue me, citing “derivative work/copyright” as a means to say I can’t photocopy the restored photo, nor can I restore it myself. Would he actually be able to sue me over this? And considering it’s not for profit, and the minimal, generic effort put into restoring it, would he even have grounds to sue me?

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Answer #1

Did you have a signed contract? If not, then it’s hearsay - his word against yours. Besides that, it’s your photo.

If you want to play it safe, though, just use your original photo and make your own adjustments to it - he can’t use your photo without consent, even if he did make some edits on it.

Answer #2

No signed contract, he simply got a few $ to make some very minor adjustments.

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Could my roommate sue me over his "derivative work" on my photos?

Did you have a signed contract? If not, then it’s hearsay - his word against yours. Besides that, it’s your photo.

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