Is a contract void if i never recieved a copy?

[Aaron]

Ok, long story short is I work at an escort agency, hardly the most reputable of jobs however it is the longest running and largest gay escort agency in Scotland having been going for 17 years. So last week I was at a photoshoot and signed a model release form and as per usual I never read it I just signed it. Since last week my photos have went up and I used one as my facebook profile picture only to recieve an e-mail from admin telling me that someone put in a copyright complaint against me and it turns out it was the photographer from the photoshoot. It's bad enough that I'm not allowed to use something as simple as a picture of myself but now I'm being told that an image of myself that's in the public domain belongs to someone and I have no right to use it whatsoever. Is there any way around this? There was nothing on the contract about my right to use the images and I never recieved a copy of the contract which I was told possibly nullifys the contract.

[wizjp]

How do you prove the negative?

He said he gave you a copy; and you signed it.

Need to find another way to attack this; "No copy" & "didn't read" are losers.

[Andrew]

If you signed a contract then it's legal and binding unless you can prove it is unreasonable

[euroanchor]

First off you need to ask this photographer to send you a copy of the contract you signed and ask him to highlight the part that says you are not permitted to use photographs of yourself taken by him for your own personal use.
Did you pay for the photoshoot? Did you receive copies of the photo's?
The laws in Scotland are sometimes different from England and Wales, but a quick call to a solicitor would clear it up.
Anyway, tell facebook admin that it's a photograph of you from your own collection, and an agency is trying it on.

[lcr000]

how can you prove you never got a copy, you signed it

[Kittysue]

Nobody needs to give you a copy. You had it, read it and signed it. That's a legally binding contract. By law the copyright of any photo belongs to the photographer UNLESS the model release stated differently. Unless the model release form stated that you are allowed to use the pictures or post them online, the photographer can prevent you from using them. If there was nothing in the contract about the rights to use the pictures then you have no rights to use them. The usage rights belong solely to the photographer. If you wanted to be able to use them on your Facebook page or elsewhere you should have demanded that it be put into the Model Release form or you weren't going to sign it.

[Sarky]

You are NOT the copyright owner the photographer is.
Therefore YOU CANNOT publicly display the photographs without the copyright holders express permission.

"public domain". I very much doubt the image was public domain. Just being published or on the internet etc does NOT make it public domain. There is copyright invested in it and that belongs to the photographer unless assigned elsewhere.
YOU are NOT allowed to use it without permission.

The only thing which needs to be in the contract is whether you have the right to use the images and for what puposes. if there is nothing in there then you CANNOT use them.

Just because you do not have a copy does not nullify the contract. You are grasping at straws and you will lose anyway because you do NOT have any right to use the images unless specifically given that right by the copyright owner. Which from all accounts you DO NOT have.