to want pics of my baby off a third party business page

[LadyGranulomaFortesque]

We attended a 1st birthday party last year and unbeknownst to me, one of the people there was in the process of setting up a photography business. I had no idea she was even taking pictures but a friend has just messaged me to say there are a few pics of my then six month old baby being used as promotion on her business Facebook page.

I am fuming - she didn't even ask even though she is a friend of a friend. I keep all of my pictures private and apart from a little cameo of me and my son together in my profile pic, there are NO pictures of him on Facebook and even pics of me are mostly private (I am weird like that).

I realise she took the pictures (covertly as today is the first time i have seen them) and I have sent her a polite message to take them down. Anyone have any idea where I stand legally if she refuses. I am so not happy about my little man being used as advertising for someone else's business. I feel like our privacy has been violated when I am normally so careful.

I don't think you should wait til she is back from holiday. This person has made a serious error of professional judgment and needs to deal with it.

I would respond to her that you have found lots of images and are seeking legal advice.

I am astounded she has included a name! Is it first name only? I would be raving.

LadyG - what does your friend think of this? The one who held the party?

I'm another one who thinks you'll probably need legal advice to sort it all out due to the nature of the internet. If photos are already showing up on google image search it might be difficult to do a proper clean. As someone pointed out up thread there are archive websites and caches where these photos will be stored.

You need to get her to act asap to minimise the damage. A legal threat might be what she needs to get her to take this seriously.

You don't need to destroy her business, but quite frankly she's going to have to learn to behave significantly more professionally than that if she wants it to be a success.

What she has done is illegal under the Data Protection Act, as she has used personally identifiable information (an image) which identifies you without your knowledge or consent.

My DH is a professional photographer so I thought I'd post to clear up a few myths.

1. Difference between this & the photos of Duchess of Cambridge appearing in the papers. For editorial photos - ie, in the news, model releases are not required, different rules cover press photography. The Duchess can take action on invasion of privacy grounds. Her photos were not used to advertise something.

In the OPs case, the photos of her son are being used to advertise something & that means a model release is always required. My DH always has to obtain model releases whether the photos are being used to promote his own business or if the photos will be used by the client to advertise their own business, eg, a fashion brand & models wearing the new season's clothing range.
A model release is required regardless of how old the person is & in the case of children will be signed by a parent or guardian

1. I don't think anyone can claim whether or not this woman is running a business yet, for all we know she might already have clients. Regardless, her intention is to run a photography business & for that reason, she needs to read up on the laws covering her profession. DH comes across this regularly nowadays, anyone with an expensive camera thinks they can turn professional at the drop of a hat (I'm also thinking of that thread the other day with the bad photos)

1. Public & private spaces in this situation are irrelevant. Even if the photos are taken in a public space, the photographer must still obtain a model release.

OP, YANBU to be upset, I would be too. I think you should take immediate action to get the photos removed from every place she has posted them (has she tweeted them as well?). As others have said, it won't hurt to contact FB & Pinterest too. Let us know how it all goes.

Buying a fancy camera and setting up a facebook page doesn't make someone a photographer. It drives me nuts all these mummies that get a fancy camera for christms, take a few average photos that people make some polite comments about, and suddenly they're touting themselves as a "professional". Anyone with any formal training knows what releases are required and when. She needs a big wakeup call about how to act professionally and ethically if she truly wants to run a business.

Yanbu that is very unprofessional. She should have asked and got you to sign a form if you agreed

To those who have said that as there isn't a cp issue with this particular child it isn't a problem - what happens next time she decides to do this and it does involve a cp/adoption case?

If the op doesn't come down hard on her now she will think that it is ok to continue publishing photos of children whose backrounds she has no idea of.

As others said when you intend to set up a new business you research it thoroughly first and if you don't then you have to deal with the consequences.

I think her reply was very blase but I do understand why the op feels as though she should wait until they are back from their holiday.

Of course Yanbu. It is, frankly, astounding that this woman wasn't aware how inapproriate her actions were bearing in mind she is setting up her photography business. In your situation Iwouldn't mind if I had been asked but that is not the point, you are not happy and you have every right to object. I hope she responds swiftly now (holiday or not) and that she learns from this.

She's been a complete muppet. Hopefully she will sort it out as soon as she can and this will be a huge wake up call to the fact that she needs to follow the rules (not to mention common sense!) if she is to be seen as professional.

yep, the name thing is pretty extraordinary, i agree. this woman is a piece of work. still wouldn't go slagging off her business online until she's had a chance to fix it, though.

what does the person who hosted the party think, OP?

What possible harm or risk is there ? A lovely picture of little Jimmy age 6 months. Why the ginormous fuss?

Say that to the children my friend deals with in her work who have had to move to different areas of the country 3 times because some fucking muppet thought that the "no photos at school events" rule didnt apply to them and put them on the internet.

These children are in real and serious danger of harm if their birth family find them, any photo like the one the OP describes would be enough to necessitate another move.

Sometimes a simply picture at a birthday party can have the most devastating consequences. The OP's child isnt in that sort of danger, but the stupid photographer doesnt know that does she? Thats precisely why there are rules about needing permission etc.

I think you should politely request that she finds an Internet connection today and removes the images. Failing that, she should contact someone back home and ask them to do it.

She has messed up. She needs to fix it as a matter of priority.

yes but bogeyface that IS NOT an issue here, so while i understand that it is the MN Way, there really is no point in pretending it is just so that we can get our knickers in a knot.

I'm not getting my knickers in a knot, merely pointing out that a "professional" photographer could be reasonably expected to know that you dont just take random shots of anyone child or otherwise, and post it on the internet without their permission.

My example was merely a worst case scenario.

OP, I don't want to worry you further, but if his pics are on Google images, that means that anyone, anywhere in the world can view them and use them for themselves.

Every day you allow her to fob you off with the holiday bullshit is another day wasted. Wherever she is on holiday, she can go to an internet cafe or find wifi somewhere, access these various accounts and delete those pictures. It is so simple to delete pics off Fb and Pinterest, for example.

What she has done is illegal and also morally dubious. Personally, I would be contacting a solicitor for advice. It might be that the police would be interested. Putting them on her Fb is bad enough, but plastering them over the internet so much that they get on Google is serious stuff. I know she's a friend of a friend, but if that friend is a true one, she will be on your side 100%.

I have read te rest of your pets op an I am , is this woman nuts. Did she not do any research before setting up her business. What plant is she from! Not only has she not asked for written consent to use te images, but she has plastered pictures of the op ds on the world wide web with his name on. This is also a data protection issue. Not only that, but as others have sad their coud be issues with the child and family. Its one thing to put a picture or two of a birthday party up on Facebook, but to use that image in your business sites and not gain permission is unacceptable and unprofessional

Sorry you are going through all this OP - I'd not only be angry but in my case worried sick. There are no CP issues with my dd, but her father and I have a blanket 'no photo's on the internet' agreement. It would have caused major issues for me.

I haven't read all of the replies, so not sure if this has been covered already but once google has seen the picture and it is on google images it is copied onto their system and it's not as simple as the photographer simply removing the photo from google images.

Reasons 'why' don't really matter, no is a complete sentance and all that.

We have ownership of our images and that's it. Nobody else gets to decide what is and isn't an appropriate use of our private photos. Simple as that.

Luckily child protection isnt an issue here. How was the photographer to know this if they didnt ask permission?

Lucky this time but what about the next time the photographer does it.

Most people know who aren't even interested in photography you can't go around taking photos of other people's children and use them without permission. Nevermind if you claim to be a professional! I would message her and say you want all traces moved now or you will take it further.

Errmm nobody 'owns' image rights of themselves unless they took the photo and it is perfectly legal in many circumstances to take photos of anybody and publish them without permission.

Whilst it may get you a smack in the mouth from a irate parent its still legal

The reason why this situation is not legal are mainly due to it not being in a public place.being used to advertise and including the child's name.