RCH Photography LEGAL TERMS AND NOTICE
LEGAL DESIGNATION – SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP
RCH Photography operates as a Sole Proprietorship within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Under U.S. and Pennsylvania law, a sole proprietorship is not a separate legal entity from its owner; therefore, the business and its owner, Ryan Holden, are legally inseparable for the purposes of privacy rights, responsibilities, and protections. Because all business identifiers of a sole proprietor—such as name, address, contact details, and website—are inherently tied to the identity of the private individual, any third-party use of RCH Photography’s business information also constitutes use of personally identifiable information belonging to the owner.
This relationship is recognized by federal privacy principles, Pennsylvania’s Right to Privacy doctrines, and case law acknowledging that disclosures involving sole proprietors frequently overlap with personal identity (see U.S. DOJ v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749 (1989), recognizing that information about an individual obtained through business records may still constitute personal information when linked to a private citizen).
Accordingly, all data-handling, publication restrictions, and removal obligations outlined throughout this Notice apply equally to both RCH Photography and Ryan Holden as a private citizen.
OVERVIEW
At RCH Photography, we are fully committed to protecting the accuracy, integrity, and lawful control of our business information, brand identity, and intellectual property across all digital and physical environments. As a creative services provider, all images, written materials, branding elements, and business identifiers associated with our company represent proprietary assets protected under federal law, Pennsylvania law, and established intellectual property doctrines. The use of "I" , "we" , "our" are terms in reference to the RCH Photography brand and its owner, Ryan Holden.
Unauthorized use, reproduction, alteration, or distribution of our materials—including our business information—poses direct risks to the integrity of our brand, the accuracy of publicly available information, and the privacy rights afforded to us as a sole-proprietorship.
Through this Legal Notice, RCH Photography establishes clear requirements for the use, removal, and handling of our data and intellectual property. These terms apply to all individuals, companies, private directories, for-profit platforms, automated systems, data aggregators, and online services accessing or displaying our information without written authorization.
By publishing this Notice publicly, we assert our rights, establish our expectations, and provide formal notice that misuse of our information will not be permitted.
This Legal Notice serves as the Legal Operating Terms that extend beyond the scope of our online business, and our the legal framework to which the RCH Photography handles its operating business.
SECTION 1 – BUSINESS INFORMATION
RCH Photography does not authorize any third-party website, directory, for-profit business listing service, scraper, or automated system to publish, reproduce, distribute, store, modify, or display our business information without express written consent. This includes our business name, owner name, physical address, email addresses, phone number, website URLs, social media links, business descriptions, metadata, hours of operation, or any other identifiers. The fact that certain information may appear on a Google Business Profile or search engine does not grant permission to repurpose that information into commercially operated directories.
Courts have repeatedly held that the mere availability of information does not eliminate privacy or consent requirements when dealing with a private individual or sole proprietorship (Reporters Committee, 489 U.S. 749; Nadler v. Mann, 952 A.2d 617 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2008)).
Any unauthorized listing, page, or profile created using our information—regardless of the manner in which it was acquired—must be removed immediately upon request. Continued publication after notice may constitute improper data usage, unfair commercial practice, or misuse of personally identifiable information.
SECTION 2 – IMAGES AND VISUAL CONTENT
All photographs, videos, graphics, artwork, and visual media displayed on any RCH Photography platform are protected by the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §§ 101–122).
These materials may not be downloaded, altered, edited, manipulated, filtered, cropped, repurposed, published, or reproduced in any manner without explicit written authorization. Unauthorized use—including use in directories, AI image datasets, automated listings, placeholders, or promotional content—constitutes copyright infringement under federal law. Modifying or altering any copyrighted image is also prohibited under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512).
Any entity found displaying or altering our copyrighted materials without authorization must remove the content immediately upon notification. RCH Photography reserves the right to enforce all available copyright protections to maintain the integrity and ownership of its visual property.
SECTION 3 – LOGOS AND COMPANY NAME
RCH Photography’s company name, logos, watermarks, distinctive branding elements, and graphical identifiers are protected under state unfair competition laws, the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1125), and associated doctrines governing source representation and brand integrity.
No third party is permitted to display, distort, edit, recreate, or use these identifiers without our express written consent. Unauthorized publication of our branding—including its use in online directories, autogenerated profiles, promotional materials, or derivative branding—may constitute false designation of origin, misrepresentation, or dilution of brand identity. Any unauthorized use must cease immediately upon notice, and all such content must be removed to prevent further misuse or confusion.
SECTION 4 – USE OF INFORMATION FROM “PUBLIC” OR “PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE” SOURCES
RCH Photography does not authorize any third party to use or repurpose information about our business simply because it appears in a publicly accessible location such as Google Business Profiles or search engine results. Accessibility does not eliminate consent requirements, particularly where the business is legally inseparable from its private owner.
Federal courts and privacy doctrines recognize that publicly accessible data can still constitute personal information depending on how it is used (Reporters Committee, 489 U.S. 749). No entity may collect, republish, or commercialize this information without authorization, and any third-party listing created from publicly sourced information must be removed immediately upon request.
Continued use after notice may constitute the misuse of personally identifiable information, unfair business practices, or unauthorized commercial exploitation.
SECTION 5 – DATA COLLECTION & AUTOMATION
RCH Photography prohibits any third party from collecting, harvesting, scraping, crawling, copying, or aggregating any data from our website or digital platforms through automated or manual means.
This includes the unauthorized extraction of images, business information, metadata, written content, logos, or any other digital asset. Unauthorized scraping or automated data collection may violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030), breach website Terms of Use, and constitute unfair or deceptive practices under the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. § 45).
Any data obtained through such methods must be deleted immediately, and the entity must cease all related operations upon notice.
SECTION 6 – ONLINE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
All digital content produced, published, or distributed by RCH Photography—including images, written content, logos, graphics, videos, branding elements, website design, metadata, and associated digital assets—is protected intellectual property owned solely by RCH Photography.
Federal copyright law, the Lanham Act, Pennsylvania common law, and applicable online protections extend to every form of our content whether displayed on our website or anywhere online.
No third party may copy, imitate, modify, store, distribute, or otherwise use our intellectual property without written authorization. Unauthorized use, regardless of intent, constitutes infringement and must cease immediately.
SECTION 7 – GENERAL UNAUTHORIZED USE POLICY
RCH Photography strictly prohibits any use, display, alteration, reproduction, distribution, scraping, aggregation, or publication of any of our business information, intellectual property, images, branding, or digital content without explicit written authorization. This prohibition applies regardless of where the information was obtained—directly from our website, indirectly from search engines, or through publicly accessible sources such as Google Business Profiles. No private directory, for-profit platform, automated system, business listing service, or third-party organization may generate profiles, listings, pages, or derivative content featuring RCH Photography without verifiable consent.
Any unauthorized use must be removed immediately upon notice. Failure to comply may constitute infringement, misappropriation, misuse of personal and business data, violation of privacy rights applicable to sole proprietors, and unauthorized commercial exploitation of our brand. RCH Photography reserves the right to take any appropriate corrective or enforcement action necessary to protect its rights, assets, and brand integrity.
SECTION 8 – CLARIFACTION OF AUTHORIZED & UNAUTHORIZED SITES AND ONLINE PLATFORMS
RCH Photography maintains strict control over where and how our business information and brand assets are displayed online. As a sole proprietorship, any representation of “RCH Photography” inherently represents the private individual behind the business, Ryan Holden. Accordingly, the use, publication, or distribution of our business information—including but not limited to our business name, logos, website URL, phone number, physical address, and any other identifying data—requires explicit authorization from the owner.
Authorized platforms include only those websites, directories, and online profiles that are affirmatively linked, referenced, or otherwise identified on other pages of rchphotography.com, excluding this Legal Notice page. These platforms have received direct and verifiable approval from RCH Photography, and their use of our business information is intentional, controlled, and consented to by the owner.
Unauthorized websites, directories, and private for-profit platforms that publish or display our information without consent are in violation of our rights and may be subject to removal requests, cease-and-desist notices, and any other lawful remedies available. One such example is ChamberofCommerce.com, a privately owned for-profit entity that has repeatedly refused to remove business information that RCH Photography did not provide, authorize, or consent to. ChamberofCommerce.com is not associated with, endorsed by, used by, promoted by, or connected to RCH Photography or it's owner. Their continued publication of the personal and business information of a sole proprietor—without permission—constitutes unauthorized use of data that is legally inseparable from the identity of the owner, a private citizen under federal and state law.
Regarding “publicly accessible” information:
Some private directories attempt to justify unauthorized publication by claiming that business information was obtained through “publicly accessible sources,” such as Google Business Profiles. RCH Photography explicitly rejects this justification. The mere availability of information in a public system does not grant a third party the right to republish or commercialize that information for profit without permission—especially when the business is a sole proprietorship and the data constitutes personal information of a private individual. Courts have repeatedly held that personal data, even if publicly accessible, retains privacy protections and may not be misused, republished, or exploited in ways that harm or misrepresent the individual. As such, any private, for-profit directory scraping, republishing, or creating derivative listings of our information without authorization is considered an unauthorized and improper use.
All potential means to remove our sole-proprietorship's information from unauthorized usage may be taken as we see that all RCH Photography business information is the same as the private personal information of our owner, Ryan Holden, given that Ryan Holden and RCH Photography are the same legal entity. RCH Photography reserves the right to pursue any and all legal or administrative actions necessary to protect our brand, our information, and the personal privacy of our owner.
SECTION 9 – LEGAL BASIS FOR REMOVAL REQUESTS & PROTECTIONS FOR SOLE PROPRIETORS
RCH Photography asserts its rights under federal and state laws that protect individuals and sole proprietors from unauthorized use, publication, or commercialization of personal and business information. As a sole proprietorship, all business identifiers—including name, address, phone number, and online contact information—are legally synonymous with the personal information of the owner, Ryan Holden. Accordingly, misuse of this information by a private for-profit directory constitutes misuse of personal information under multiple legal standards.
Under Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act §5, the unauthorized scraping, republishing, or monetization of a sole proprietor’s business information may qualify as an “unfair or deceptive act or practice,” particularly when the directory creates the false impression of affiliation, endorsement, or consent. The FTC has repeatedly held that entities may not collect or publish personal information in a misleading manner or in ways that cause substantial injury to consumers. For a sole proprietor, inaccurate or unauthorized listings may impair reputation, cause misdirected communication, or create confusion among clients—injuries recognized by the FTC as actionable.
Additionally, under Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL, 73 P.S. §201-1), any misleading representation of a business—especially one tied to an individual’s personal identity—can constitute an unlawful practice. Unauthorized business listings, false profiles, or refusal to correct incorrect information may qualify as deceptive or misleading conduct affecting the public interest. Because RCH Photography operates within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, this statute provides a direct legal basis to challenge unauthorized publication of information tied to a private citizen.
Courts have also established strong precedent recognizing that information identifying a sole proprietor is treated as personal information. Cases such as U.S. Dept. of Defense v. FLRA, 510 U.S. 487 (1994) and Davis v. U.S. Department of Justice, 968 F.2d 1276 (D.C. Cir. 1992) affirm that information identifying an individual in a professional capacity is still personal information protected under federal privacy standards. Furthermore, under the Right of Publicity doctrine, as applied through common law in many states including Pennsylvania, a business cannot use an individual’s name or identity for commercial gain without permission. When a directory monetizes traffic, sells premium listings, or profits from the display of personal/business information of a sole proprietor, such use may constitute commercial appropriation.
For entities located outside Pennsylvania—such as websites operating from Florida—jurisdiction may also be invoked under long-arm statutes, because unauthorized publication impacts a Pennsylvania resident and business. Both Pennsylvania and Florida recognize the right to pursue claims where a business causes harm across state lines through online activity.
Collectively, these statutes, legal doctrines, and case precedents establish that private for-profit directories may not unilaterally publish or commercialize the business information of a sole proprietorship without authorization. RCH Photography therefore demands strict compliance with removal requests and asserts all applicable rights to protect the private personal information of its owner.
SECTION 10 – LIABILITY FOR UNAUTHORIZED BUSINESS PROFILES
RCH Photography holds all unauthorized third-party platforms, directories, and data-aggregation services fully liable for any misrepresentation, inaccuracies, or false profiles created using our business information or the personal information of our owner, Ryan Holden. As a sole proprietorship, any incorrect, incomplete, or unauthorized listing constitutes a direct misrepresentation of the personal identity of the owner and therefore carries heightened legal implications. When a private for-profit directory publishes or disseminates inaccurate business information—such as wrong addresses, outdated phone numbers, improper categorization, false operational status, or fabricated business profiles—it materially alters the public’s understanding of RCH Photography and may result in reputational damage, client confusion, and measurable economic harm..
Under the Federal Trade Commission Act §5, the creation or maintenance of misleading business listings, especially when a directory refuses correction or removal, may constitute an “unfair or deceptive practice.” The FTC has expressly recognized that presenting false or distorted representations of a business, or implying endorsement or participation where none exists, is actionable misconduct. Furthermore, a directory that profits—directly or indirectly—from traffic generated by false or unauthorized listings may be engaging in commercial exploitation of another party’s identity, which is prohibited under federal and state unfair trade practices laws.
Within Pennsylvania, false or misleading depictions of RCH Photography fall under the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL), which prohibits deceptive conduct that creates confusion or misunderstanding regarding a business’s identity or attributes. Because all RCH Photography identifiers are inseparable from the private identity of the owner, any inaccurate profile constitutes both business misrepresentation and personal identity misrepresentation.
Private directories may also face liability under the common-law doctrines of Misappropriation and False Light, both of which protect individuals—including sole proprietors—from the harmful publication of misleading or distorted information. Courts have consistently held that presenting someone in a misleading manner, even absent defamatory intent, may constitute a tort when the representation is unauthorized and likely to cause reputational harm or public confusion.
For-profit directories that fabricate business profiles, auto-generate inaccurate listings, or refuse to remove harmful content fall squarely within this category.
Additionally, directories that imply affiliation, partnership, membership, or verification without the express consent of RCH Photography may violate the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. §1125), which prohibits false association, false designation of origin, and misleading commercial representations. This applies when a directory’s listing structure suggests that the business has willingly joined, endorsed, or claimed a listing, or when the directory exploits the business’s identity to drive advertising revenue, premium listing sales, or user traffic.
For these reasons, any inaccurate or unauthorized profile generated by a third-party directory, especially one operating as a private for-profit entity, is deemed a legally actionable offense. RCH Photography reserves all rights to seek correction, removal, injunctive relief, damages, or any other remedy available under state or federal law for misrepresentation of our business and personal identity.
SECTION 11 – RIGHT TO REQUEST ERASURE AND DE-LISTING (U.S. LAW FRAMEWORK)
RCH Photography, as a sole proprietorship, asserts the right to request the removal, suppression, or de-listing of business information that is inseparable from the personal identity of its owner, Ryan Holden. While the United States does not have a singular, nationwide “right to be forgotten,” existing federal and state legal principles provide clear support for a sole proprietor’s ability to demand removal when personal information is used without consent, misrepresented, or exploited for commercial gain. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act §5, the continued publication of unwanted or misleading personal/business information may constitute an “unfair or deceptive practice,” especially when a platform refuses to honor a clear removal request. Likewise, under the Restatement (Second) of Torts §652E (False Light) and §652D (Public Disclosure of Private Facts), an individual has the right to prevent unauthorized and harmful publication of personal information.
Because RCH Photography’s business identifiers—address, phone number, and other contact information—are legally indistinguishable from the personal information of Ryan Holden, any unauthorized distribution by private, for-profit directories may be considered improper dissemination of personal data. When such directories profit from traffic, paid placements, scraped listings, or advertising revenue tied to the unauthorized use of our information, RCH Photography maintains the right to request full de-listing and to pursue any remedy available under state and federal law. Any entity receiving a removal request from RCH Photography is therefore placed on notice that refusal to comply may result in administrative complaints, regulatory filings, or legal action.
SECTION 12 – NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF IMPLIED CONSENT & PROHIBITION ON UNAUTHORIZED DATA SCRAPING
RCH Photography formally revokes and denies any implied consent that third-party directories, aggregators, or automated systems may attempt to rely upon when scraping, copying, or republishing information related to our business or its owner. No third party is authorized to extract, compile, or commercialize our information through automated means, “publicly accessible” sources, or derivative data-collection methods. Under U.S. legal doctrine—including hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., 938 F.3d 985 (9th Cir. 2019)—the unauthorized scraping of data, even when publicly accessible, may violate legal protections when it interferes with a platform’s terms, misuses personal information, or creates commercial harm. Similarly, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. §1030, has been applied to cases where automated systems access or extract information without proper authorization.
By publishing this Legal Notice, RCH Photography explicitly prohibits any party from repurposing or reproducing our business information, which is legally tied to the personal identity of owner Ryan Holden. Any continued scraping, storing, or commercial display of our information after notice of revocation constitutes unauthorized access and unauthorized use. Private, for-profit directories that persist in such conduct may face claims related to misappropriation, interference with business relations, and violations of unfair competition and consumer protection laws under the jurisdictions applicable to both Pennsylvania and the directory’s home state.
SECTION 13 – DIGITAL IDENTITY PROTECTION OF A SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP
As a sole proprietorship, RCH Photography’s digital identity is inseparable from that of its owner, Ryan Holden. Unlike corporations or LLCs, a sole proprietorship does not possess a separate legal persona; therefore, any disclosure, publication, or misuse of business information is inherently a disclosure, publication, or misuse of personal information. This legal reality provides heightened protections under various federal privacy doctrines, identity-based tort claims, and state consumer protection laws. Courts have consistently affirmed that professional or business-related personal information may still constitute protected personal data, as established in cases such as U.S. Dept. of Defense v. FLRA and Davis v. U.S. DOJ, which recognize that identifying information of an individual—even in a professional context—remains personal information subject to privacy safeguards.
Accordingly, RCH Photography considers any unauthorized publication of our information by private, for-profit directories to be a violation of our digital identity rights. Such directories are prohibited from creating profiles, business pages, listings, or representations of RCH Photography without explicit consent. Any attempt to imply membership, affiliation, endorsement, or participation through such listings constitutes a misleading commercial representation potentially actionable under the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. §1125) and Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. The misuse of our digital identity for profit—including through advertising revenue, directory traffic, or paid business features—constitutes an impermissible commercial exploitation of the personal identity of our owner and may give rise to claims for damages, injunctive relief, and statutory remedies.