Help - ex has removed access to ALL family photos

[Mumof3confused]

We had a shared Google drive with family photos. This contains all photos from the birth of our first child until about 2020, a period of 10
years, including all my historic iPhone backups. I last accessed these in March. I’ve now noticed he’s removed my access to the entire drive.

What can I do? I want to write a strongly worded letter to his solicitors. Can I do this? What can I say? Do I have any ownership of these considering they came from my phone? 😭

You'd have copyright of your photos, but I suppose that only really applies if he tries to publish them. I don't think there is any legal recourse for demanding access to his Google account. Presumably things are not amicable enough that you can ask for a hard drive with the photos or have the drive shared back to you temporarily so you can arrange to copy over the photos you want?

No he won’t communicate with me at all and will enjoy ignoring this particular request. They were taken mostly by me so I would expect to have some ownership?

You have copyright, so you can get them taken down if he publishes them.

But if the only place you’ve uploaded them is a Google drive in his name, then you don’t own them - he owns those copies; and you have no legal right to demand that he shares them.

Do you have no copies of any, anywhere? Did you save the drive file to your own drive? Are they in iCloud?

While you may have photo rights, there is nothing to stop him storing copies for personal use and nothing that really compels him to give you access to them.

I do feel for you as I understand that you don't really set up things like this with the expectation you will split someday.

I take it you can't access a phone back-up and get some photos back that way, as another poster suggested?

No all the old phone backups were done on an old computer. These photos date back up to 15 years.

We have a non molestation hearing this week. I will bring this up in front of the judge. At least it will show his character.

What a calculated nasty thing to do!!

Mine did the same.
And was ordered to put them on a usb stick within 28 days.
Ask the court as that is v unreasonable.

Thank you @Notcms were you in financial or children’s proceedings at the time?

Both....it was the childrens judge who told them to provide me with the usb 👍🏻

Thank you that’s really reassuring