Can we use pictures taken by previous PM

Hi,

In the middle of a tenancy I have decided to change PM for one of my property.
Now the tenants have decided to leave and I was wondering if my new PM could use the pictures taken by my previous PM to create an ad and look for new tenants?

I don't remember we paid for it specifically so I'm not sure who owns them?

They are still visible on domain / realestate.


Thanks

 

Unless the copyright on the photos has been handed to you, it remains with the photographer.

 

If you paid for the photos, they do not belong to the PM. As a Landlord I would be rather annoyed if I forked good money for professional photos and the PM thought it would be ok to go and whack their water mark over it - a lot of PM's try this on, make you feel like you're stuck with them or they have some magical rights over the photos - they do not. As Marg said, in the finer detail, copyright/use may relate back to the creator (the photographer), but in my experience, with rental photos anyway at least, once the photographers' been paid they don't care, not a second thought is given they move onto the next job, the photos are yours to use however you want.

 

True, but unless you specifically request that the ownership of the photos passes to you, the RE agent (who probably hires the photographer) will have probably had the copyright assigned to them.

Tips for the future:
When the property is empty, or with the permission of tenants, take your own photos.
If paying for photos, ensure, in writing, that ownership passes to you.

 

If the pics were on Domain, they are now public. It says this in the Domains terms and conditions page that you forfeit ownership when uploading pics there.

 

That's good to know! Actually the PM took the pictures himself so we didn't pay for professional pictures but given the time of the year, we would like to avoid having to wait until the tenants leave the property before getting more pictures and creating a new ad.

 

Just make sure you get updated photos as soon as you can - I've seen agents copy photos from old listings again and again - and the quality each time deteriorates and you end up with pixilated photos (not particularly attractive)

 

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!
That's not how copyright works for any website or other media.

As per domain's T&C there's no such thing, and it would not apply even if there was.
1.2 Customer grants Domain a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to publish, and to sub-licence the publication of, the Advertising in any form or medium, including print, online or other. Customer warrants that it is authorised to grant Domain the licence in this clause 1.

Did you pay for the pics?
Did the PM say something like "we need to do pic and it will cost you XX".
Or something like a marketing for $$ cost.
If the answer is yes than you paid for the usage of the pics for the purposes of renting out your IP, and you should be able to reuse them for the same purpose even though copyright remains with the person who took the pics.

Otherwise no you cannot use them.

You can do a googl search or check copyright.com.au for more details