If photos are available on the internet, then... they're
free for the taking, right?
Wait, that's not how copyright law works? In the
world of copyright, each original image theoretically has an
"author" who created the image, and is the first owner of
the copyright. The exception to this rule is that an image (or,
indeed, any other copyright-protected work), which is created by an
employee in the course of employment is owned by the employer. So,
an image has an owner, even if that owner chose to post the image
online. And copying that image without the permission of the owner
could be an infringement of the owner's copyright.
That seemingly simple question was the subject of a lawsuit
between two rival companies who are in the business of listing
online advertisements for new and used vehicles. Trader Corp. had a
head start in the Canadian marketplace with its autotrader.ca
website. Trader had the practice of training its employees and
contractors to take vehicle
