Supermodel Sues Dating Service Because of Photos
Victoria’s Secret model and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Girl Model Marissa Miller is suing dating service DNA Diamonds for using her photos in Internet and print ads.
If the allegations are true, from a legal standpoint she should be able to recover compensatory damages at a minimum — assuming the defendant has the funds to pay any judgment.
What’s the importance of this case to you?
It should remind you and other Internet marketers not to use photos or images on your websites unless you have the legal right to do so. When in doubt, either get written permission or don’t use the photo. There’s plenty of stock photography and public domain pics available for you to use without risking a lawsuit.
As for supermodel Miller’s legal claims, they include invasion of privacy, misappropriation of image and likeness, and unjust enrichment.
If you do a Google image search for model Marissa Miller, or watch her YouTube videos, her claims for “privacy’ are kind of funny regardless of the legal merit. My guess is the equity term “unjust enrichment” adequately reflects what’s at stake here. It was less the principle of the thing than the fact she didn’t get paid for the use of her photos.
Have you ever been accused of using someone’s photos on your website without permission?
Or have you caught someone using your pics without permission?
If so, what happened?
Feel free to share your experience by posting a comment about it.
About the Author
With an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 15 years of real world legal experience, Attorney Mike Young is President of the Internet Ethics Council and creator of Website Legal Forms Generator software. He helps entrepreneurs protect and grow their businesses online.
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People should respect the privacy of the owner’s photos and other “online properties”. And they should ask permission first to the owner to avoid any problems.
Andrew,
Thanks for your input. You are correct from a legal, moral, and business judgment standpoint.
Please note that the photo used with this post is not that of model Marissa Miller (indicated in the alt text for the pic). Instead, it is a public domain photo of a painting.
Best wishes,
-Mike