Legal Question in Technology Law in Florida

can you legally sell nude photos?

Can you legally sell nude photos of girls over the age of 18, but without consent? I heard that if you blur out the face/black out the eyes, that makes it legal.

(They are photos they have taken themselves and sent to numerous people on the internet.)

True/false?

*I also have no idea what law that would be classified under*


Asked on 6/20/09, 10:07 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Sarah Grosse Sarah Grosse, Esquire

Re: can you legally sell nude photos?

No.

This question keeps recurring in various different forms. The answer is getting quite tiresome.

I prefer to take the buzz word "nude" out of the equasion. Whether it is just pictures of her pretty smile or pictures of her parts which should be covered in public, the law is the same.

Listen carefully:

You cannot sell what you do not own.

Things on the internet are not necessarily free for the taking.

Things you could be sued for:

* Copyright Infringement - copying, publishing, distributing, and selling (all separate actions, damages for each "click" on each picture and each sale; all your profits; treble damages for intentional infringement)

* Infringing Rights of Publicity (everyone owns it regardless of whether they have previously exploited it)

* Infringing Rights of Privacy

* Misappropriation/Tresspass to personal property (theft of the pictures)

I'm sure there are other actions, but that's just what I can think of off the top of my head.

I am just waiting for one of the girls whose pictures are illegally sold on the internet to contact me for representation. Don't let it be you who gets served with the subsequent Complaint.

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Answered on 6/20/09, 10:38 pm


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