bareassman
Update: Colorado company threatens to sue over widespread ass photo
With a full moon hanging over him on New Year’s Day, photographer Marty Odom thought he had “the photo of the New Year”.
Especially when his photo of a bare-ass skier dangling upside down from a ski lift was published the next day in the Vail Daily; the local newspaper that covers the skiing community in Vail, Colorado.
But now he is looking for a new job after his employer, Sharpshooter Imaging, told him he was suspended until further notice.
However, he wasn’t even on duty when he snapped the photo.
But that hasn’t stopped the photo company that contracts with the local skiing resort to claim ownership of the photo, which has been causing an avalanche on the internet, including The Smoking Gun, which has posted all five photos of the skin-tingling rescue.
News of the incident has gone across the world, and Odom said he’s received 75 to 100 calls from media across the world wanting to hear about the incident and buy rights to his photograph.
“I had 18 missed calls on my phone when I woke up this morning,” Odom said. “I’ve gotten calls from Korea, Norway, Finland, the Today Show, Extra, Fox, ABC and everything in between.”
The problem is that he signed a “no-compete” clause when hired by Sharpshooter Imaging, which forbids him from licensing the photo for money. In other words, he was not allowed to moonlight as a photographer.
He offered to buy the photos from the company, but Sharpshooters told him that they were going to announce they owned the photo and that it would not be released.
So maybe Sharpshooter Imaging, which hires photographers around the country for events, will have their lawyers file a cease and desist order against me. Or maybe they’ll just never hire me, which is fine because I prefer to maintain ownership of my photos.
However, if you live around Vail, Colorado, there is a job opportunity for you.