Pictures on Dance studio website

[szlamany]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Connecticut

I am asking this question for a person who owns a dance studio. On their website they have an image of some dancers - none of the faces are visible - they are all looking up and doing a leap.

One of the "mothers" left the studio last year to start her own studio and is demanding this picture be removed with a threat of legal action.

No waivers or permission forms were gotten in advance to cover any of this.

First - does the image need to be removed. With the faces not visible what is the rights of the "mother" who left.

Second - what is the potential penalty if the threat is ignored? Can the dance studio only be forced to remove the image or are their financial or criminal penalties for something as silly as this.

[seniorjudge]

Q: First - does the image need to be removed. With the faces not visible what is the rights of the "mother" who left.

A: As a matter of policy (the policy being avoiding the court system), if it were me, I'd remove the pictures at once.




Q: Second - what is the potential penalty if the threat is ignored? Can the dance studio only be forced to remove the image or are their financial or criminal penalties for something as silly as this.

A: The consequences are that you might have to fight a very expensive lawsuit and, even if you win, you'd be a loser.

[szlamany]

Here is a link to the actual picture - it should put it in perspective

[url]http://lmdadance.com/images/pic7.gif[/url]

[quincy]

What a great photo!

I think that the mother who left to form her own dance studio could have a difficult time proving that this photo infringed in any way on her rights. Because her figure is only one of several pictured, and no one is easily identifiable in the photo, her pictured form could very well be considered "incidental" to the photo as a whole.

The problem your friend faces, however, is that, even if the mother has little chance of winning a suit on "misappropriation of likeness" or "right of publicity," this does not prevent her from filing an action anyway. And defending against a lawsuit can be expensive.

The mother would have to show that she (or perhaps her new business) has suffered damages as a result of this image appearing on your friend's dance studio website. This could be possible for her to show, perhaps, in light of her opening a competitive dance studio - if she can prove she is readily recognizable and identifiable in the photo.

Even when people know they are being photographed and, by not objecting, they give what can be considered implied consent to have their picture taken, this can be to the photographing only. Prior to publishing any image, releases should be obtained to avoid any court action, as I am sure your friend is well aware now.

You could have a Connecticut attorney review the photo to help your friend weigh the pros and cons of leaving the website photo up. It is definitely a risk to leave it up if this mother is a litigious sort. Even if the mother were to lose a suit over the photo, and I personally think there is a good chance of that although the Connecticut attorney you select may think differently, your friend would still have to devote a lot of time and money to defending against any action brought.

[Chris2289]

i would simply just remove it just as it saves so much time. Although i doubt she would have a case, if she is that determined/pathetic then do you really want to have to deal with it when you could be focusing on dance?

[spallanzani]

Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer.

I don't know what your friend's financial situation is, but if she is really attached to the picture, she could try to work something out with the mother. Offer to pay for rights to use the picture and have the mother sign a release. She should run all this by a lawyer first (maybe a senior could help?).

[quincy]

Spallanzani, while your suggestion to have a release signed after-the-fact would be one that could, and should, be considered in most situations, it sounds like this mother who is pictured in the photo does not want her image connected with szlamany's dance studio because the mother is opening her own competing dance studio. She just wants the image removed entirely. In other words, it is not a matter of money but for business reasons.

If you checked out the photo, you will see that none of the figures pictured can be easily identified (although the body shapes may be recognizable to those who know the dancers personally). Szlamany should be able to use the image without a problem.

However, the mother is making it a problem - and one that probably cannot be resolved with a release or with payment, due to the circumstances.

So it seems that szlamany has a choice of removing the image, to avoid a lawsuit entirely (even when the odds are fairly good szlamany would win a lawsuit), or to leave it up and possibly have to pay a significant amount of money to defend the use of the photo in court. Leaving it up is a risk. Taking it down is not.

[TheGeekess]

A few minutes with Photoshop and some filters and it wouldn't be the same.

[Some Random Guy]

Offer to pay for rights to use the picture and have the mother sign a release.

I know of no situation where any responsible business owner should offer to pay money to a competitor just because the competitor is being unreasonable and petty. Either take down the picture or send back a letter from a lawyer threatening a countersuit.

The photo clearly shows a group of dancers without their faces shown. They were obviously photographed in a choreographed setting where they knew their pictures were being taken and the dancer in questions is merely one of a group of dancers. There is a tough uphill battle for the competitor to show any misappropriation of likeness or any damages.

Your friend should take this as notice that in the future she should get photography releases from their dancers as part of signing up for classes.

[quincy]

Some Random Guy, you sort of touched on an area that szlamany may want to check out. It wasn't mentioned in the original post, but . . . .

. . . .most dance studios or martial arts studios (or similar places where you sign up for classes) use standard contracts - one clause in this standard contract mentions the right to use images taken during classes for promotional purposes. I wonder if szlamany had such contracts signed by his dancers?

If the mother signed one, then she would be totally out of luck with any lawsuit.

Otherwise, yes, getting releases signed as part of the dance studio contract would be a wise future move.