Using my picture

[drjay]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

What is the name of your state? Maryland

I just recently found that my picture is being used to market a less than wholesome dating service which caters to those looking purely for sex. I am absolutely furious because I run a child day-care service and this was brought to my attention by one of my customers after having discussed it with another one. The page even has my home city and state! How many thousands of people have seen my picture advertising a sex related website?!

I initially found my picture posted on a Yahoo member forum and ALL of the links posted go to a shady website which is purely acting as a go-between for the larger site. This is clearly part of an affiliate program in which they 'hire' help in generating clicks, views, and purchases for their website. An unsuspecting browser comes across the fake profile with my picture, clicks a link, then is taken to a website advertising "hot sex tonight." The creator of the fake profile with my picture is then paid for generating traffic.

I have tried a number of different ways to find the owner of the fake profile and secondary go-between website but all of the WHOIS data is false. Fortunately the affiliate program this person is taking part in is part of a rather large company but I'm not sure I will be able to get his info to confront him directly.

My question is this, is the affiliate legally bound to the company in which he represents? In other words, much like if McDonalds hires someone to do work for them and that person breaks the law, McDonalds would be responsible. Is this the case with affiliate programs? If not, would I legally be able to obtain the registration information for the actual person with which I have a grievance from the owner of the affiliate program? What should my next course of action be?

 

[phantomperfume]

I'm not a professional, so this is just my opinion, but I'm going to say that you probably wouldn't be able to get any registration information because of privacy laws. However, if the owner of the website is contacted about this, they will probably remove the picture. To take any legal action, you're going to have to prove damages.

 

[phantomperfume]

one more thought...
if you wanted to contact the police about this, they might be able to get a court order for those records if this constitutes a form of identity fraud.

 

[davidstarr]

Solution

File DMCA complaint with citing that picture is being used without permission. Do it and you will get your goal.



David Starr
http://thecourtofpublicopinionandlaw.blogspot.com

 

[Jiggly1984]

You can either file a DMCA complaint (which seems like a bit of a stretch, however), or probably just get in touch with the customer service section of the company (even though you're not a customer) and speak to a supervisor or someone in charge of marketing. They won't give you data on the person, but they will certainly remove your photo and contact that person to make sure they don't do it again. They will probably not ask that person to do any work for them again either. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to avoid the stink associated with a lawsuit.

If they are uncooperative, just tell them that if they don't remove your picture, you are going to file a case against them. Because they are associating your photograph with content that is defamatory, a case can certainly be made they are acting libelously. If you truly have never been a member of their site, their association of your likeness/picture is falsity (and appropriation, or the use of a likeness without permission for financial gain), and obviously since your customers know about the photo, it is damaging to your reputation.

However, the individual who did this is not an employee of the company -- odds are they were found through a freelance service, and thus are contract workers, and not employees. That prevents this company's liability for those people's actions.

Just a question -- did you ask why your customers were perusing this site to begin with? Obviously, though it was a big deal for them, they must have been looking at a site that had links to this adult site, or were on the site themselves. Might be funny to see the look on their face when you confront them about that.

 

[arst06]

Same deal

State: Arkansas

Contact the Police in the county IF a person is doing it and it will be harrassment, the person put my Picture and all of my information on Yahoo Personals as I am 'gay' which is all LIES and libel posting.

The Police brought it up at the station where I filed my report, plus it may fall into stalking, in my case anyways.

Do not let this go, you can take action first one is by reporting it and faxing your photo id to Yahoo then getting the Prosecuting Attor. and Detective involved, they treat this as a serious matter because a million things could happen to you or your life could be put at risk. NO one knows what they have told other people or what may happen from this.

I would not let it sit out here, in my case the person responisble for my picture and profile are going to be arrested for Harrassment so I hope it was worth it in their case.