I am a "Serious Amateur" Photographer. 2 years ago I did a photo shoot with a model and was never paid the agreed price for the images. Part of our verbal agreement was that I would be allowed use of the images as part of my portfolio. Recently I received an email from the model demanding I remove all of the images. For two years these images have been in my online portfolio with her knowledge. She displayed the images on her Social Network sites as well. My question is: Do I, as the creator of the images and holder of the Copyright, have the right to keep the images displayed in my portfolio?

Your situation is a good example of the problem with verbal agreements. They are very difficult to enforce because once there is a dispute, of course each side is saying that they agreed on something different. There is good news and bad news in your situation. First, as the person who took the photographs, you are the owner of the copyright in the photographs and you control who can copy, publicly display, distribute and make derivative works of your photographs. You could enforce your copyright against the model to stop her from displaying your photographs on her sites. The problem you could have is that she may claim she had an "implied license" to use them and then it would be up to a court to decide if she did or not. Also, you must register your copyright with the United States Copyright Office to be able to legally enforce your copyright. If you have not done that yet, you cannot claim "statutory" damages or attorney's fees for infringement should you be successful in an infringement action. As far as displaying the photos on your website, the problem you can have is the model's right of privacy/publicity. She has a right in the use of her likeness to promote other people's businesses. This right varies from state to state so you need to find out in your state if she can stop you. In short, neither one of you may end up with the right to do anything with those photographs without objection of the other. Next time, get these rights sorted out in writing before you take the photographs!