Image rights lawyers in Paris
Domains of expertise > Image rights
Advertising campaigns, photographs of employees, partnerships with models or influencers, videos and content published online: a person’s image must be properly governed from the design stage of the project and for each new use.
As image rights lawyers in Paris, we assist companies, brands and agencies in securing their campaigns and their content. We also act where an image or a voice is used without consent or beyond the agreed scope.
To discuss the use or the defence of an image:
A firm recognised by the leading legal directories: Chambers, Legal 500, Décideurs, Managing IP and Lexology Index.
Our image rights services
Advice and support
Before any publication, our lawyers analyse the conditions under which a person’s image may be captured, reproduced and exploited.
We act in particular in connection with:
- advertising campaigns, promotional operations and corporate communications;
- photographs and videos intended for websites, social media, platforms or printed materials;
- content featuring employees, directors or team members;
- partnerships with models, artists, athletes, influencers or brand ambassadors;
- shoots, corporate events and audiovisual productions;
- archives, stock image libraries and content created or transformed using artificial intelligence.
We check the rights of the person depicted as well as the copyright of the photographers and directors, the agencies or the producers involved in the project.
Drafting and negotiating releases and contracts
Our lawyers draft and negotiate in particular:
- image, name and voice release agreements;
- influencer contracts, model and ambassador agreements and audiovisual talent contracts;
- clauses included in employment contracts, services agreements or event rules;
- production agreements between advertisers, agencies and producers;
- amendments covering the extension of a campaign or new uses.
Contracts must specify the media, the term, the territory, the campaigns concerned, the scope for adaptation, the remuneration and the transfer of content to group companies, distributors or partners.
Representation and litigation
We act in particular in cases of:
- use and/or publication without consent and/or beyond the agreed scope;
- reuse on a new medium, territory or product;
- a visual left in circulation after a contract or partnership has ended;
- publication of an image in a context liable to harm the person depicted;
- unplanned alteration, misuse or editing;
- misappropriation of the image or voice of a director, employee or ambassador.
Our lawyers act to preserve the evidence, initiate amicable steps and, where necessary, bring proceedings before the competent courts.
Situations in which we act
A brand wants to sponsor an athlete already committed to their club
A brand enters into a partnership with a professional athlete so that they wear its products and publish several posts on social media. The contract has to take account of the rights held by their club, the commitments given to the team’s sponsors and the restrictions applying during competitions or official appearances.
Our lawyers define the scope for exploiting the athlete’s individual image, set the framework for the expected posts and secure the exclusivity clauses so as to prevent conflicts between sponsors.
A collaboration with an influencer leads to a capsule collection
A brand develops a collection with an influencer, who takes part in designing the products and promoting them. The contract must distinguish the design work, the posts she undertakes to publish and the brand’s right to use her name, image and voice in its own campaigns.
Our image rights team formalises these commitments and sets the framework for sponsored content, the brand’s reuse of the posts, sector exclusivity and how long the visuals may remain in use after the collaboration ends.
An advertising campaign evokes a public figure without depicting them directly
A company is considering using a lookalike, an imitated voice or an AI-generated avatar in an advertisement that strongly evokes a well-known figure, without naming them.
We analyse the features that make the person identifiable, the risk of confusion created among the public and the commercial context of the campaign. We assess the risks relating to image rights, voice rights and civil liability, then assist the advertiser in adapting the project or, where the campaign has already been released, in managing the dispute.
Awards and rankings
Chambers France 2026 — Intellectual Property: Trade Mark & Copyright
Vanessa Bouchara — Band 2, thirteen years in the rankings.
Legal 500 EMEA 2026 — Intellectual Property: Copyright
Legal 500 EMEA 2026 — Intellectual Property: Trade Marks and Designs
Bouchara & Avocats — Tier 2.
Décideurs | Leaders League 2026
« Strong reputation » in digital platforms and applications law.
Décideurs | Leaders League 2025
« Renowned practice » in advertising and marketing law.
IP STARS — Managing IP 2026
Bouchara & Avocats — Copyright & Related Rights, Other Notable Firms.
Image rights: a legal framework companies need to master
Image rights allow an identifiable person to control the use of their likeness. They are principally based on article 9 of the French Civil Code, which protects private life and allows the court to prevent or put an end to an infringement.
For companies, the main difficulties concern the use of photographs or videos in advertising campaigns, partnerships, content published online or communications using the image of employees, directors, models or influencers.
Governing the use of a person’s image in communication campaigns
Releases covering the image of people appearing in an advertising campaign or on a communication medium must define precisely the uses consented to, in particular their duration, their territory and the media concerned.
The firm assists you in drafting and securing these agreements.
Particular care with employees’ images
An employee’s consent must specify the authorised uses, their duration and the media concerned. The company must also organise the removal or updating of the content when the employment relationship ends.
Image rights, social media and artificial intelligence
The use of AI tools also raises digital law issues. An image can be transformed, animated, placed in a new context or used to generate an avatar. A voice can be reproduced in order to create a message the person never spoke.
Article 226-8 of the French Criminal Code penalises, among other things, certain edits and algorithmically generated content where they are not clearly presented as artificial.
Contracts must therefore govern AI-based transformations, avatars, synthetic voices and other derivative uses.
How should you respond when a campaign is challenged on image rights grounds?
A company may be challenged where an employee, a model, an influencer or another contributor considers that the use of their image goes beyond the agreed scope. The challenge may concern the duration of the campaign, the media, the territory, the adaptation of the visuals or their reuse by group companies, distributors or partners. It may arise under the contract between the parties or from an alleged infringement of image rights and privacy (French Civil Code, art. 9).
Analysing the scope of the rights granted
The first step is to compare the uses actually made against the contracts, amendments, releases and correspondence between the parties. Our analysis focuses in particular on the purpose of the campaign, the media provided for, the duration, the territory and the scope for modifying or transferring the content (French Civil Code, art. 1103).
The contractual chain between the advertiser, the agency, the producer, the photographer and the broadcaster must also be reconstructed. This check makes it possible to identify any use exceeding the rights granted or a failure on the part of a supplier.
Finally, the dispute may concern the copyright attaching to the photographs or videos. Exploitation going beyond the scope of the assignment may expose the company to infringement proceedings, separate from the image rights question (French Intellectual Property Code, art. L. 122-4 and L. 131-3).
Building the defence file
Contracts, amendments, versions of the visuals, campaign schedules, purchase orders and correspondence with suppliers must all be kept. This material makes it possible to establish the extent of the rights obtained and the actual conditions under which the image was used. It is decisive in the light of the rules on the burden of proof (French Civil Code, art. 1353).
The analysis must also distinguish a claim based on the contract from an alleged infringement of image rights or privacy. That characterisation determines the arguments available, where liability lies and the strategy to adopt in the event of litigation.
Defining a proportionate response
Depending on the situation, the company may suspend certain uses, take down content, negotiate a regularisation or contest the claim where it considers it has complied with the agreed framework. The contractual warranties and remedies available against the agency, the producer or the supplier who passed on the rights must also be examined.
Our lawyers assist you in analysing the claim, in the exchanges with the parties concerned and, where necessary, in your defence before the competent courts. The aim is to secure the company’s response, to limit the escalation of the dispute and to preserve its contractual relationships and commercial interests.
Would you like to secure or defend image rights?
Are you preparing a campaign or facing a disputed publication?
For a review of your situation, our lawyers are at your disposal.
Bouchara & Avocats
17 rue du Colisée
75008 Paris, France
Tel. +33 (0)1 42 25 42 30
info@cabinetbouchara.com
Intellectual Property Lawyers Team
FAQ
Does an image release have to be in writing?
A written release matters in order to prove the agreement and define its limits: media, purposes, duration, territory and any modifications. Consent given for one project does not automatically cover a new campaign or its extension.
Can you publish photographs taken at a corporate event?
That depends on the framing and on the intended medium. Participants’ consent must in principle be obtained where they are recognisable, in particular for publication on the company’s website or social media accounts. A general photograph of the event in which no one is singled out or identifiable does not necessarily raise the same difficulties.
Does buying a photograph from a stock library secure all the necessary rights?
The company must check the licence terms, the commercial uses permitted and the consent of any identifiable people. Downloading or paying for a photograph does not, in itself, secure all the rights required.
