Annie asked: "I do not know the copyright laws of the UK. I do know something about the laws here in the USA, though, and yes, to some degree the performer does sign away their rights when it comes to having photos taken"

In the UK, the default is that the copyright of a photograph belongs with the photographer unless the photgrapher specifically signs away that copyright, which sometimes happens professionally if the photographer is working to a commission. The exception is if the photographer is an employee and the photographs are being taken as part of that employment, in which case the default is the employer owns the copyright.

There was a fuss at Deliverance in 1998 when Sally Knyvette got upset with a dealer selling photos of her. She insisted the dealer tear up the photos she had, which the dealer did. These were photos taken at another convention. The dealer tore up the photos for a quiet time, but she was under no legal obligation to do so as Sally had no rights to those pictures.

There has been talk in the UK for some time about introducing a law to protect celebrities from having their photos taken and being used in newspapers, but that has not happened yet.

-- cheers Steve Rogerson http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/steve.rogerson

Redemption 03, 21-23 February 2003, Ashford, Kent The 25th Anniversary Blake's 7 Convention The 10th Anniversary Babylon 5 Convention http://www.smof.com/redemption