A copyright case that took place a few years ago delivers a good lesson and deserves a second look. Oprah Winfrey was the focus of the copyright question, involving two freelance photographers. A U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of the two photographers, Paul Natkin and Stephen Green, both from the Chicago area. Natkin and Green had participated over a ten-year period in photographing Oprah and various of her activities on and off the Oprah Winfrey TV show, for publicity purposes. In her book, Make A Connection, Oprah's publisher used eleven of the photographers’ images, without permission or payment of the photographers.

The photographers declared copyright infringement. Oprah’s attorney held that she had legal rights for use of the photos in her book. The judge ruled this was not a work-for-hire arrangement, the photographers had not signed anything saying so, and that the photographers, not Oprah, owned copyright of the photos.
Being a good businessperson can be learned.

The case was scheduled to go to trial. Oprah’s attorney was claiming “authorship” for Oprah in the photos, in that she and her company controlled most of the elements in the photos, similar to when an art director, designer, or ad agency executive will control most of the elements in an advertising shoot.

The photographers' attorney claimed that no such ‘control’ or defined authorship existed.
The two parties decided to settle out of court. Natkin and Green have access to all of the estimated 60,000 photographs they shot of Winfrey, and Winfrey has the assurances she wanted that photos of her will not be sold to tabloids without her consent.

"We reached a settlement where we will share the use of all the photographs," Natkin told reporters.