McDonald's Worker
Loses Invasion
of Privacy Suit
by Joel Hecker, Esq.

In New York, as in most other states, there is a statutory prohibition from use of a person's name, portrait or picture, in advertising or trade, without the person's written consent. There are exceptions to this rule, such as when the use is newsworthy, or simply fleeting and incidental.

A recent case Candelaria v. Spurlock, decided in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, succinctly described the current state of the law in New York and elsewhere while discussing a case which arose out of use of a short clip of the plaintiff while employed by McDonald's.