From Lawmakers for Videomakers

You don't have to be a lawyer to understand some of the legal principles that govern the fields of video, filmmaking, photography, and music.

Even a cursory knowledge of the law can help you secure freedom to make the videos you want and to show or sell them as you please.

Right of Privacy

The greatest number of lawsuits brought against photographers today is in the field of invasion of privacy. Most states have a privacy law nicknamed "the right to be left alone."

When you make a videotape, you have to be concerned with the law of all states where the tape might be shown, not just where it was made.

The privacy law states that "any person whose name, portrait, or picture is used within the state for advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade without...written consent...may [sue] to prevent and restrain the use thereof; and may also sue and recover damages for any injuries sustained by reason of such use."

A relevant lawsuit against a national magazine occurred about 15 years ago involving a newspaper salesman named Duncan Murray.

The plaintiff went to a St. Patrick's Day parade wearing an Irish hat, a green bow tie, and a green pin. He was not Irish, by the way.

Murray was photographed, without his consent, by a freelance photographer who sold the picture to the magazine, the defendant in this case.

The photograph was printed on the magazine's St. Patrick's Day cover two years later, under the title of a feature article: "The Last of the Irish Immigrants."

The plaintiff sued the magazine for invasion of privacy. One appeal, the cast was dismissed.

The court agreed that the privacy law prohibits the use of any picture for advertising or trade purposes without written consent.

But a picture illustrating an article is not considered being used for the purpose of trade or advertising unless it has no relationship to the article.