To What Extent Is There Copyright In A Snapshot?

The snapshot that generated the litigation was taken by Donald Harney, a freelance photographer. The subjects: Christian Gerhartsreiter and, on his shoulders, his young daughter with a Palm Sunday palm in her hand, with a church in the background. Gerhartsreiter had, in fact, abducted his daughter during a custodial visit and publication of the photo in the media and as a FBI wanted poster blew his cover as a fraudster who had masqueraded as a British aristocrat and, more recently, a member of the Rockefeller family. So why the copyright suit? Sony Pictures made a TV movie about Gerhartsreiter, publicising it with an image of father carrying daughter that was clearly based on Harney's original. The issue, then, was whether Harney could assert copyright in the photo he had taken.