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Note: Although our First Amendment to the Constitution
includes Freedom of the Press as a provision to encourage
the free flow of information, there are instances where a
photographer can come up against existing privacy and
defamation laws. |
Privacy Law
PRIVACY AND DEFAMATION LAW ON THE WEB
Web sites give photographers an opportunity to show off
their wares and to include "chat groups" in their site.
Because the material put on a Web site can be construed as
having been published, the owners of the Web site may be
subject to privacy laws of the state in which they live,
as well as other states and countries where their Web site
is received.
Chat groups on Web sites can encourage verbal interchange
that might also be construed to be defamatory.
Use of material on a Web site which is defamatory, or an
invasion of privacy, is actionable.
If you misrepresent someone (or that person's family
member) either "in print" or with your photo of that
person (or a photo of his or her family member) it's
generally called, "placing him or her in a false light."
Different states may have different interpretations of the
"false light" concept. (See: "False Light, Invasion of
Privacy: The Light That Fails," Zimmerman, Vol. 64, NYU
Law Review, 1989 pg 364-454.)
In a recent situation, according to the Associated Press,
a Web site developer based in Ohio stated in a headline on
his home page that Walter Cronkite spit in his food at a
restaurant. The esteemed former CBS-TV anchor man happened
to be searching for his name on the WWW and came across
this site. A lawsuit was happily avoided when the site
owner admitted he made the story up and removed it. This
is a humorous (but deadly serious) reminder that you are
liable for what you say on the Web.
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