This was a private exchange between adults. He violated the implied consent for private use and made it public.
Under current law, which is a friggin' mess, this may not have been illegal. By my measure, it violates "non-initiation of force, fraud, or theft" on both the fraud and theft parts. He broke contract and if he received financial gain from misusing her likeness, then this could be construed as theft as well.
My dos centavos only as I am not a lawyer. :-)
Hold up a sec - I’m speaking very specifically about my friends who have pictures of me in my bathing suit on their Facebook page and have it there without my written or expressed consent. I specifically did not want that to be posted on the web, however, I did not put that in writing.
Quite literally, there is no difference. Can I sue them and do they owe me money? ;)
(I am aware of FB’s lack of privacy once someone POSTS a picture and I’ve never had a FB account.)
Everyone agrees that what was done is socially wrong - horrible - BUT was it illegal? “By the law” this may not be illegal. We’re talking “provable in court.”
Now, what contract did he break? She may have sent him a copy of a digital file with the understanding that her boyfriend is a decent man and will conform to the social mores that she conforms to, but clearly this guy has a different set of morals and, in turn, a different understanding of the supposed unspoken, unwritten contract. In his version of the unspoken contract he has permission to post the file any place he chooses.
If she sent him the digital file for his personal use then he has full usage rights unless she copyrights the image. Just like my friends on FB.
However, if he attempts to make money on the image then I believe that there is already origination law on “art” and the woman is entitled to a portion of the monies made, or all monies made, but anything else would have to be argued as damages, etc, in court. Once again - she “gifted” that image to the man without a usage contract in writing.
So, was it illegal and can I now make tons of money off of my buddies from FB whom are using my image without permission? I’m not sure.
I guess it all comes down to who owns a digital file that was “given” to someone without a usage contract. Usually gifts are owned by the receiver. So, he owns that copy of the digital file and can use it however he likes.
Or not. I could be full of it. Crappy dude though.