Is it Illegal for an Ex-Girlfriend to Post Nude Photos of Me?
Full Question:
Answer:
It may be possible to file a claim based on copyright infringement, invasion of privacy, or blackmail. You may also consider trying to transfer or change jobs. Copyright infringement is the violation of any exclusive right held by the copyright owner. The general rule is that the author - here, the photographer -- is the owner of the copyright.
Invasion of privacy involves making something public in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. It's not enough to argue that the photos were private; you must be able to prove that you and the woman had an agreement never to share them with the outside world.
Blackmail is a form of extortion in which the threat is to expose embarrassing, damaging information to family, friends or the public in exchange for payment of money or other advantage. It is a form of extortion, but differs in that extortion involves depriving someone of property.
The answer will depend in part on who took the pictures, where the photos are taken, and whether it was agreed they would remain private. Other laws, such as trespassing may apply. Invasion of privacy is the intrusion into the personal life of another, without just cause, which can give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to bring a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity that intruded. It encompasses workplace monitoring, Internet privacy, data collection, and other means of disseminating private information. A non-public individual has a right to privacy from: a) intrusion on one's solitude or into one's private affairs; b) public disclosure of embarrassing private information; c) publicity which puts him/her in a false light to the public; d) appropriation of one's name or picture for personal or commercial advantage.
The tort of appropriation involves the appropriation of a person's name or likeness for the defendant's economic benefit. This branch of invasion of privacy law recognizes an individual's right to privacy from commercial exploitation. It emphasizes a person's property right to exploit his or her own name or image for his or her own economic benefit. This type of privacy right is often described as an interference with the "right of publicity." The right of publicity recognizes the individual's right to regulate and obtain the benefits from the commercial exploitation of his name, likeness, identifying characteristics, and performances. Exceptions, among others, include when the information is disseminated as part of newsworthy events or matters of public interest, or consent to publicity.
For further discussion, please see:
http://www.rcfp.org/photoguide/intro.html
