Scary legal issues will make any business owner run and hide. The scary issues depend on the business and the services offered along with the size of the company and employees accountable to provide the services. As a photographer the scary legal issues that would worry and bother me would be:
Error and Omissions: I would be worried that a client felt that I wasn't able to capture a once in a lifetime moment, like their wedding, a baptism or any rights of passage ceremony. The ability to capture these moments only happens once and to have equipment failure, illness or even an act of God interfere with the moment can ruin a families special day.
Bridezilla: Sounds vague, but the thought of having to deal with a Bridezilla can scare most photographers or anyone involved to just run for cover. This type of client is never satisfied and will attempt to get everything for cheap and possibly file a law suit to make you pay for damages they believe occurred. Each situation will be different but it is still one filled with headaches.
Copyright: This is more than likely the scenario the one scenario that as an artist we will all face at least once in our career. Someone always will claim to have some intellectual right to the idea or have a similar image or thought and take you to court for damages. David LaChapelle recently dealt with a similar situation where he did a photo shoot for a famous musician and they turned around and used the same concept for their music video. He sued them and won. Copy written material is the one security blanket that ensures us some form of justice.
All these examples come to mind because they are always in the limelight some way somehow. Picking the right client, pre planning and knowing our rights will protect us from these scenarios.
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