Location: Maine. Former Employer Feeding My (33F) Photography Through ChatGPT
employment attorney Maine Jul 23, 2026
Location: Maine I was formerly employed by a small (but successful) restaurant group in Maine. My role was in marketing, but my background in fine arts made me in-house photographer & graphic designer. I decided to resign 4.5 months ago after the role went from, “we’re going to make beautiful food and we want you to photograph it well,” to “we’re going to make sloppy food, restrict your creative time in favor of office work, and expect you to reconcile the difference by using AI.” The owner’s son took control of the business and any bit of creativity (including in the kitchens) was budget-slashed. Since then, a new employee has taken my place, and is continuing to feed all of my photography stored on the server into ChatGPT. While I understand my employment with them gives them ownership of the original images, I’m wondering (and hoping) those terms don’t apply to using my work to create shitty AI interpretations of my photography to be shared all over social media. I don’t want to get into a battle with them, I just want them to stop bastardizing my work. Maybe shoot some new stuff? I don’t know, dig deep into their pockets to purchase a shred of their own creativity? Is a cease and desist a possibility? Do I have any recourse here? I now live in Texas with my husband and would prefer any avenue that doesn’t include actually conversing with these people. They had very little respect for my photography while I was under their employ, and I’m sure any remnant that hung around has disappeared in my absense. I’ve googled around and the law around AI is ever developing and murky. Any clarity would be appreciated! Thank you in advance.
