
 
 Sam Walton in 1985. (AP Photo) 
 
 Even people who hate Wal-Mart are inspired by Sam Walton’s rags-to-riches entrepreneurial success. A World War II veteran, he bought a variety store in a small rural town in 1950 and 41 years later owned the largest retail chain in America. 
 
 But a collection of photographs taken between 1950 and 1994 that captures the story of a family living the American dream has become the subject of an ugly lawsuit. 
 
 The photos were taken by Robert Huff, who owned Bob’s Studio of Photography in Fayetteville, Ark., about 35 minutes down the road from where the Walton family lived. Huff’s son David joined the family business and over the years they shot hundreds of photos of the Waltons. 
 
 Now the Waltons are suing the photographer’s widow, Helen Huff, 63, to get the photo negatives, along with any proofs and prints she still has. 
 
 The Walton family and the Walmart Museum (filing suit as Crystal Lands, LLC, and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., respectively) claim the negatives and proofs belong to them and that the studio only kept them as a courtesy to the family, according to the complaint filed in an Arkansas court. They want to prevent Huff from selling the negatives or using them for commercial purposes. 
 
 Huff claims she has copyright to the photos and filed a counterclaim asking a federal judge to stop Wal-Mart from using them without her permission. Wal-Mart wants to display some of the photos at its museum. 
 
 The 200 photos in question include pictures of the Walton family, the original Wal-Mart board of directors and the Wal-Mart visitor’s center. Some of the photos were shot at Bob’s Studio of Photography, others the family took to the studio for restoration. 
 
 The case boils down to who was in charge when these photographs were taken. Huff says her husband and father-in-law were hired as independent contractors, according to the Arkansas Times, which would mean they were in charge of the photoshoots and have rights to the photos they took. As proof, Huff points out that the photographers used their own equipment, lenses, lights and backdrops; controlled the positions of their subjects; chose and developed the film or hired the processing company; and provided a copyright notice to the Walton family notifying them that they owned ‘exclusive rights to reproduce’ the pictures.” 
 
 But the Waltons claim, according to the newspaper, that the photographs were created as a “work-for-hire.” Without a written contract, the Waltons have to show their relationship with the photography studio was like an employer-employee relationship in which the family was boss. As proof, the family claims it supervised the photo shoots. 
 
 The Professional Photographers of America (PPA) believes Huff is the rightful owner of the pictures. “[I]n this case, it’s the largest retailer in the world bullying a small Arkansas studio,” wrote chief executive David Trust on PPA’s Web site. “It’s a total David vs. Goliath situation.” 
 
 PPA cites a case in which Oprah Winfrey claimed she owned rights to photos taken on her TV set. As in the Wal-Mart case, Winfrey wanted rights to the photos and claimed they were created as works-for-hire. But without written agreements, the court found in favor of the photographers. 
 
 PPA reported that the Waltons offered Helen Huff $2,000 for the negatives and proofs, which she turned down. But Huff’s lawyers declined to confirm the offer. 
 
 On Monday, Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove issued a statement about the case: 
 
 As you can imagine, many of the photos go back many years and commemorate the history, heritage and culture of our company. We believe that some of the photos that Bob’s Studio has belong to Walmart. All we want is for the court to make it clear who rightfully owns these photographs. We tried very hard to resolve this without involving the courts. We never wanted the issue to reach this point and we’ve done everything possible to avoid this. 
 
 A federal judge in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Arkansas will hear the case on July 7. 
 
 Related Content: ||||| click to enlarge Drawing from PPA Today 
 
 As you can imagine, many of the photos go back many years and commemorate the history, heritage and culture of our company. We believe that some of the photos that Bob’s Studio has belong to Walmart. All we want is for the court to make it clear who rightfully owns these photographs. We tried very hard to resolve this without involving the courts. We never wanted the issue to reach this point and we’ve done everything possible to avoid this. 
 
 In what photographers are calling a “David vs. Goliath” situation, thewho with his father shot hundreds of pictures of the Walton family from 1950 to 1994 is being sued by theand the Walton family to have negatives, proofs and prints turned over to them.Robert A. Huff and his son, David A. Huff, owners ofin Fayetteville and both now deceased, photographed members of the Walton family from 1950 to 1994 in their studio. The Walton family, suing as Crystal Lands LLC, maintains that the studio kept the negatives and proofs as a courtesy to the family, but that they are the intellectual property of the Waltons.Defendantwidow of David Huff, has filed a counterclaim, saying she holds the copyright to the photos and asking the court to stop Walmart from using the photographs without her permission. Huff says Bob and David Huff were independent contractors, using their own equipment, lenses, lights and backdrops; controlled the positions of their subjects; chose and developed the film or hired the processing company; and provided a copyright notice to the Walton family notifying them that they owned “exclusive rights to reproduce” the pictures.Wal-Mart Stores, filing as, and Crystal Lands filed suit March 28 in Benton County Circuit Court, but attorneys for Huff, citing federal copyright law, were able to remove the case to federal court in the Western District of Arkansas. Federal Judgehas scheduled a case management hearing for July 7.The Waltons claim the pictures were taken under their “supervision” and that they thus hold intellectual property rights to more than 200 photographs in six boxes, including those shot at the studio as well as photos taken to the studio for restoration. The plaintiffs are asking the court for a declaratory judgment that the Walmart Museum and the family own the photographs and, whatever the result of the case is, to prevent Huff from making commercial use of the pictures.PPA Today, the website of the Professional Photographers Association, reported on the lawsuit on its website May 12. The PPA claims that the Waltons offered Helen Huff $2,000 for the photographs, but Huff’s attorneys,andof the Everett, Wales and Comstock firm in Fayetteville, declined to confirm the offer. PPA Today noted in its article the Natkin v. Winfrey case, in which Oprah Winfrey claimed to own photographs taken on her set, but lost when the court ruled the photographers were not under “work-for-hire” contracts. Martin and Everett also maintain that Bob’s Studio’s arrangement with the Waltons was also not a “work-for-hire” contract. David Trust, CEO of the PPA, made the “David vs. Goliath” comparison, and said the suit “would set a terrible precedent and goes, flat out, against copyright law.”Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove issued this statement this afternoon: ||||| We've (finally) got an update on the Walmart v. Huff case! Brush up on the story below first if you need a refresher. 
 
 Update 7/16: 
 
 At a recent case management hearing, the judge set the trial for the trial term beginning April 6, 2015 and ending April 30. This doesn't necessarily mean the case will go to trial April 6, just that the case is set to be tried sometime during that term. 
 
 Read the full story: 
 
 Your typical copyright infringement involves one photographer stealing another photographer's images, or reproducing copyrighted images without permission. But in this case, it's the largest retailer in the world bullying a small Arkansas studio. 
 
 Walmart and its founding family, the Waltons, have filed suit against Helen Huff, the widow of Arkansas photographer David A. Huff. 
 
 David Huff's studio, Bob's Studio of Photography, was founded by his late father, Robert A. Huff, in 1946, and created portraits of the Walton family before the expansion of Walmart grew them into one of the wealthiest families in the world. But now Walmart and the Walton family are demanding that Helen Huff hand over those works. 
 
 The complaint states that they (the Waltons) seek to obtain six or more boxes of photos, negatives, and proofs, alleging that over the years, Bob's Studio retained those items "as a courtesy" to Walmart and their family (they didn't). The complaint further states that the Waltons own intellectual property rights to the photos (they don't). The fact is, under federal law, photographers own the copyrights to their own works. 
 
 PPA has been working with Huff to support her case and thereby advocate for photographers' copyrights. 
 
 "If there were ever a David vs. Goliath situation, this is it" says PPA CEO David Trust. "We simply can't remain idle and allow this to happen--it would set a terrible precedent. In our opinion, this obviously is a violation of copyright law and it is beyond question that Ms. Huff owns the photographs and if the Waltons want the photographs, they should pay for them. PPA as an association stands behind Ms. Huff and supports her case as the rightful owner of these images. We have contacted her lawyers and offered to file an amicus brief* when and if that time comes." 
 
 *What's an amicus brief, you ask? It's is a legal opinion or testimony that is volunteered by a "friend of the court" who is not a party to a particular lawsuit but has a strong interest in the case. It is a way to introduce concerns ensuring that the possibly broad legal effects of a court decision will not depend solely on the parties directly involved in the case. 
 
 PPA also advised Huff and her attorney of a separate suit, Natkin v. Winfrey, in which Oprah Winfrey claimed she owned the rights to photos of her created on her set. Since the photographers were hired as independent contractors and had not signed work-for-hire contracts, they owned the full copyrights for the images, and Winfrey's argument was swiftly rejected by the court. 
 
 Walmart filed its lawsuit against Helen Huff in state court, but because it is a copyright issue, Huff's defense removed it to federal court. The defense argues in its answer to the Walmart complaint that Huff owns copyrights to all the works her late husband and father-in-law created for the Walton family, and that they worked as independent contractors for the Walton family. In addition, Huff's defense filed a counterclaim of copyright infringement, alleging that in the past Walmart has reproduced and allowed third parties to use Bob's Studio of Photography's copyrighted works. Huff and her attorney are awaiting Walmart's answer. 
 
 UPDATED 5/21: Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove issued a statement this afternoon: 
 
 
 
 As you can imagine, many of the photos go back many years and commemorate the history, heritage and culture of our company. We believe that some of the photos that Bob's Studio has belong to Walmart. All we want is for the court to make it clear who rightfully owns these photographs. We tried very hard to resolve this without involving the courts. We never wanted the issue to reach this point and we've done everything possible to avoid this. 
 
 PPA always stands for photographers' copyright protection. As such, we will continue to provide information as these cases develop. Check back for updates!
– Today in the ugly lawsuit department: Walmart and the Walton family are suing for the rights to photo negatives, some half-a-century old, in what has been classified as "a total David vs. Goliath situation." The story goes like this: Robert Huff—who owned a photography studio in Fayetteville, Ark., near where Sam Walton and his family lived—and son David snapped hundreds of shots of the Waltons over the years. Now, the Waltons want total control over them. They're suing David's widow, Helen Huff, for all negatives, proofs, and prints of the photos, dating from 1950 to 1994, to prevent them from being used for commercial purposes, the Washington Post reports. Walmart and the family intend to use some of the photos—of its founder, the original Walmart board of directors, and the Walmart visitor's center—in the Walmart Museum, and argue the material was only kept by the studio "as a courtesy," the Professional Photographers of America notes. The Post and the Arkansas Times explain the question at the center of the case: When the photos were snapped, who was the boss? Huff says her husband and father-in-law were independent contractors who used their own equipment and managed all the aspects of the shoots and film processing; the Waltons claim the shoots occurred under their "supervision," making it an employer-employee relationship. The case will be heard in Arkansas federal court July 7. (Click to read about how Walmart is taking flak for the fees collected by banks that operate within the chain.)