Copyright Law
Corporate ‘Photonapping’ Raises Legal Issues
Posted Jan 9, 2008, 12:05 pm CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Corporations that are “photonapping” snapshots posted by private individuals on websites are running into legal problems, the Washington Post reports.
In one case, the family of Dallas 15-year-old Alison Chang sued after a photo of her flashing a peace sign and a goofy grin became part of an ad campaign for Virgin Mobile in Australia. The billboard campaign urged readers to “Dump Your Pen Friend”—and makes Chang the dumpee.
Chang’s friend, also a plaintiff, had snapped the photo and posted it on the Flickr photo sharing site, agreeing to make it available as long as he was credited. Lawyer Ryan Zehl says the friend never suspected the photo would be used commercially, and the ad failed to credit him.
Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig told the Post that amateur photographers are beginning to think of themselves as artists whose work deserves respect.
"There's really no excuse for [these companies] except that they think it's not important to protect the rights of the amateur," he said.
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