Rights of partner no longer working with us

[kootikooti]

In Ontario.

4 of us began a venture as equal partners to host a youtube type site with content produced by us, nothing formally written up as an agreement. This partner is no longer part of the venture because of a disagreement with one of the other partners. She has shot some videos, edited a few and we use them online. This person is in possession of the other videos, is threatening to delete the footage and is demanding we take down anything on the site. Has asked for $10,000 to hand over the footage. The questions are:

1-Do we have to take the footage down?
2-She filmed and produced it with the intent to use on our site can he make this demand?
3-Does she have the right to the footage or does it belong to us / the website?
4-Can she make a claim in the future that she is entitled to a portion of the site?

THank you for your help

 

[davew128]

US law only

 

[latigo]

In Ontario.

4 of us began a venture as equal partners to host a youtube type site with content produced by us, nothing formally written up as an agreement. This partner is no longer part of the venture because of a disagreement with one of the other partners. She has shot some videos, edited a few and we use them online. This person is in possession of the other videos, is threatening to delete the footage and is demanding we take down anything on the site. Has asked for $10,000 to hand over the footage. The questions are:

1-Do we have to take the footage down?
2-She filmed and produced it with the intent to use on our site can he make this demand?
3-Does she have the right to the footage or does it belong to us / the website?
4-Can she make a claim in the future that she is entitled to a portion of the site?

THank you for your help

The Internet is not the place for you to attempt to even comprehend the legal issues confronting you, much less attempt to resolve them. You need the assistance of an Ontario attorney familiar with partnership law.

In the first place you made one huge mistake in creating the partnership –which is a legal quagmire - when you could have readily structured the business as a Limited Liability Company.

So don’t compound your legal problems by avoiding the cost of hiring a professional to bail you out.

Good luck

 

[quincy]

In Ontario.

4 of us began a venture as equal partners to host a youtube type site with content produced by us, nothing formally written up as an agreement. This partner is no longer part of the venture because of a disagreement with one of the other partners. She has shot some videos, edited a few and we use them online. This person is in possession of the other videos, is threatening to delete the footage and is demanding we take down anything on the site. Has asked for $10,000 to hand over the footage. The questions are:

1-Do we have to take the footage down?
2-She filmed and produced it with the intent to use on our site can he make this demand?
3-Does she have the right to the footage or does it belong to us / the website?
4-Can she make a claim in the future that she is entitled to a portion of the site?

THank you for your help

As davew128 stated, this site is for U.S. law questions only. And I agree with latigo's bottom line - that you should have your partnership agreement reviewed by an attorney in Ontario.

That said, if the partnership agreement was not in writing and there was no written agreement about the ownership of the videos, and if the partner who is leaving the partnership created the videos on her own and without any assistance from the other partners, this partner as creator of the videos would own both the copyrights in the videos and the moral rights in the videos. This former partner could, therefore, make a demand to have the footage removed from the website, could demand compensation for continued use of the videos, and could, potentially, make claims to the website in the future based on her understanding of the (unwritten) terms of the partnership agreement.

If all of the partners contributed to the making of the videos, on the other hand, and there was no written agreement to the contrary, then all partners would share equally in the video copyrights. Any one of the joint-creators of the work could publish, distribute and sell copies of the videos without permission from the others, and all would share equally in any profits realized from these publications, distributions or sales of the videos made by any one of the partners.

A personal review of all of the facts of your partnership by an attorney in your area will be necessary to determine what legally belongs to whom and who can legitimately demand what of whom.

I recommend in the future that you get all agreements in writing and signed by all parties. Having an attorney's assistance at the beginning of any venture can save you from much greater expense in the future, should there be a dispute over the terms of an agreement or should a lawsuit arise.

You can review the Canadian Copyright Act at http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-42/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-42.html.

Good luck.