Photographer fined for unauthorised use of wedding photo

PHOTOGRAPHERS who intend to publish photographs from weddings and other events should ensure they have the approval of the people involved or they could face a fine of £1,000, as one learned to his detriment.

According to reports yesterday, one newlywed couple were forced to resort to lodging an official complaint with the Commissioner for the Protection of Personal Information after a photographer used their images in a magazine without their permission.

The Commissioner, Koulla Frangou, not only fined the photographer after investigating the incident, but also ordered the photographer to remove the photo from his advertising blurb.

The reports said the photographer had told the couple on their wedding day that the photo would be published in a wedding magazine, but they said they did not want it made public in that way. He went ahead without their permission and also used it for his own advertising purposes.

When the couple asked him to remove the photos, he declined, the reports said, leaving them no option but to lodge an official complaint for the protection of their personal information.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.