Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
Preventing my ex wife's boyfriend from posting pictures of our kids on his FB page?
I just found pictures of my kids (daughter 13 & son 12) on the Facebook page of my ex wife's current boyfriend (5 months). It's his personal FB page. He's hugging them and appears overly familiar with them.
She is not in the pictures and there is no reference as to their legal status. She posed the kids with him and took the pictures. The title on his photo 'album' is (his name) "Da--- Arv--- & the kids."
Do I have a say in my kids privacy and internet appearances? I am the custodial parent and have primary custody (80%-Washington State).
What are my rights? What are my kids' rights? Does she have the unilateral right to authorize this non-family member to post pics of the kids on his site, especially without my mutual consent? I asked her to have them removed. She agreed, but the pics reappeared and are still plainly and openly posted on his page. What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington.
1 Answer from Attorneys
This is a new and emerging area of family law: what rights to parents have over their children's image being used by third parties online?
In my opinion, you have some options. Since mom has agreed to tell the boyfriend to remove the photos, and he apparently has not, if I were you, I would hire counsel to write a letter to she and the boyfriend detailing your communication with mom and the fact that she tells you she has told boyfriend to take down the photos. If I were the attorney, I would also write that since this has not happened, my client is not sure if mom is just paying him lip service or if she really did follow through and boyfriend is ignoring both of you. Then I'd give boyfriend 72 hours to take down the photos and tell him you would otherwise go to court to seek an injunction preventing him from displaying any photos of your children on any public site without your permission.
I think you will get that injunction based upon your right as a parent to act on your children's behalf to protect their interest in their image. This is not the same as a photo someone takes which your children happen to pose for or are caught in the background of and the person taking their photo has no idea who they are. This is a person who knows your children, is aware of your objection to posing them in a certain way and posting these photos with their names online. I think it goes over the line and I think you can stop it.
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