Former White House photographer Pete Souza says he’s being threatened with authorized motion for displaying a photograph he took of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on his private web site.
Mr Souza, 67, took the photograph aboard Air Force One in 2009 on Mr Obama’s first abroad journey as president and included it on a photograph gallery on his web site after leaving the White House in 2017.
In an Instagram put up on Saturday, Mr Souza mentioned he had been notified by a copyright enforcement firm that he had infringed WENN Rights International’s possession of the picture.
Mr Souza added that the photograph had been positioned on an official gallery of Mr Obama’s first 100 days in workplace, and that there was no “copyright involved in official White House photos”.
“You can’t make this s*** up,” Mr Souza wrote.
Mr Souza mentioned he had been informed that he was “legally obligated to compensate (WENN) for the damage caused by this copyright infringement.”
“So to recap: I made this photograph. It is in the public domain. WENN is licensing this image for publication. Copytrack is threatening to file legal action against me for displaying this photograph on my website, since their partner WENN claims they own the copyright to the image.”
WENN didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Commenting on the Instagram put up, photographer Danny Clinch wrote: “I’m always coming across use of my copyright images in a situation where they benefit financially. It’s lame.”
Mr Souza served because the official photographer throughout Mr Obama’s two phrases in workplace, and beneath Ronald Reagan from 1983 to 1989.
He was given nearly unrestricted entry to the forty fourth president on the White House, throughout official occasions and on abroad excursions.
Mr Souza took most of the most well-known photos of Mr Obama’s presidency, together with within the Situation Room throughout the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, and of a younger boy rubbing the president’s head.
Mr Souza’s representatives didn’t instantly reply to a request for an interview.
Source: www.impartial.co.uk