Make Up artist using photos of me

[CheeseFiend36]

Hi

About 18 months ago it was my sister's wedding. DMum suggested it would be a nice idea for the other siblings to get our hair and make up professionally done, she wanted to pay for it as a treat, which of course we were all very grateful for and we thought it was a lovely idea.

For logistical and location reasons I agreed to use somebody local to me recommended by a friend who had used her before. She hadn't been set up for very long however my friend showed me a photo of the make up she applied to her and I thought it looked nice, plus she was reasonably priced. So I booked her.

On the wedding day she did an ok job. it wasn't spectacular but at the same time it wasn't hideous; I was satisfied.
She asked if she could take a couple of photos of me : a few close up at certain angles a bit like mugshot photos and one from a distance to capture the "top to toe look". She said she wanted to use them to show potential clients in a lookbook type of thing. I wasn't jumping at the opportunity however felt bad saying no as she clearly wanted to get some more business and having a little portfolio would help her. As she had only been doing it for a short while, she didn't have any social media pages (she herself said that she wasn't very social media savvy) and said she was going to rely on word of mouth

Fast forward to a few months ago when my friend text me to say that whilst browsing she saw that the make up artist had set herself up a Facebook page and that we were both on there. I had a quick search and sure enough, there I was. I was annoyed as I hadn't given her permission, however the page only had about 40 likes and I decided to forget about it hoping the album would get buried further down her page as time went on.

A few weeks ago I was on my Newsfeed and her page appeared as a "sponsored ad" - and my photo along with a few girls', was right there on the ad thumbnail thingy, so you wouldn't even need to click into the page to see me. I don't know how these sponsored ads on Facebook work but I'm sure they are targeted at specific demographics so may appear in the newsfeed of any other local woman similar to me in age (which may include some people I know)

I now see it pop up nearly every day; the page has got about 300 likes now. I know I could block it from my newsfeed but my issue is that other people can see it. I am very cautious about what pictures i put onto social media, I only have a few on my profile page (which is very restricted, and if anyone tags me in a photo I have the right to review it before it appears on my timeline)
The photo is at a really unflattering angle which really highlights one of my major insecurities on my face, this may appear that I'm just vain but when you are bullied for years at school about something, you become hugely self conscious about it and very controlling about what photos of you that are "out there".

My friend (who is not bothered about her photo) says I should message her and ask her to take it down but I don't know whether I have a right to if the photos belong to her?
Should she have got permission from me to use them, or AIBU? As far as I was concerned I only gave permission for the photos to be used in a lookbook - I feel like putting them on the internet is completely different.

''She asked if she could take a couple of photos of me : ... She said she wanted to use them to show potential clients in a lookbook type of thing.''

I think once you've allowed photos to be taken to be 'used' for her business it's up to her how she uses them. It was a verbal agreement. I'm sort of guessing. I'm sure someone will be along who knows the facts.

I can understand why you're not happy with the pics, but it does sound like you agreed that she could take them and publicise them. I wouldn't worry, we all pick flaws and look at the worst part of ourselves- I'm sure you look lovely. Plus I'm sure she will add lots of other photos and your pic will just 'blend' into the rest of them.

I have a photo of me on a makeup artists Facebook.
I've known anyone to care I didn't even think about it.
She probably doesn't think you'd care because no one else does. Message her.

The photo belongs to her, so really she doesn't need your permission, however you can politely ask her to remove it if its bothering you. That's reasonable.

She's probably just being naive and you are well within your rights to ask her to take it down.

It also sounds like she's a bit rubbish at the Facebook advertising. A sponsored post goes to one of 3 audiences:

1. people who already like your page
2. people who like your page and their friends
3. group that you've picked based on demographics (like age, location and other pages liked) - this would normally exclude people who like your page

With only 300 followers it's even more unlikely that you'd fall into the third one, so she's probably put too much money behind options 1 or 2 which is why you're seeing the ad all the damn time.

Also, because you've clicked through her page, the Facebook algorthym probably thinks you're really interested so showing it to you more than anyone else!

She should have got you to sign some kind of model release form as you'd both know where you stand then. Maybe you could withdraw permission for it to be used though? In a way it is sensitive personal data because it tells people information about you such as age, sex, location etc.

A polite message asking her to remove the pic of you explaining why as you have done here is completely fine. I think then it will be a matter of relying on her goodwill in removing it. Hopefully by now she has some new pics to use and it won't be a big deal to cut yours at all.

Also Great is right that the photo belongs to her, but your face belongs to you and your likeness is covered by the DPA. When someone uses your photo they must be completely clear on:

1 why you are using the person’s image
2 what you will be using it for, and
3 who might look at the pictures

Although reasons 1 & 2 seem to stand with your conversation, you're right that 3 doesn't quite hit the mark. You agreed to the image being used in a lookbook for potential clients, not for transmission online to an undefined audience.

I'm not a lawyer, I work in marketing for small businesses so it's really helpful to know the law.

If your MUA was my client I'd tell them to take the pictures down and only use ones where their models had signed a release, and preferably a release that's been checked over by a lawyer!

I think you should just ask her if she'd mind taking down the picture as you didn't realise it would be on facebook. If you're nice about it she will almost definitely remove it.

she owns the image

I think theres a difference between verbal consent and written. Otherwise there wouldn't be disclaimers for this sort of thing.

Email her, explain and ask her to take them down.

Thanks guys, well I sent her a message on Facebook earlier to which she replied along the lines of:

"Awww that's such a shame you look so lovely in them and they are one of my favourite examples of my work (sad face)

I will remove them after the new year, it's a faff to do it on my phone so will dig out my laptop when Xmas and new year is out the way"

Not sure what's so difficult about it (does anyone actually log onto Facebook from a laptop nowadays?) but as long as she does it.

I'll check again on January 7th