Using photos without permission

[onadifferentplanettoday]

Can someone put a picture of me or my child in a published book without our permission. The picture was taken some years ago when my dd was very young at her school (she's an adult now). For personal reasons my daughter is unhappy that it has been used in the book, is there anything we can do ?

Unfortunately the rights in the image lie with the copyright owner, which is almost always the photographer, unless the s/he signed away the rights to it at some point, for example to the school.

Sometimes photographers get 'permission forms', waivers or what TV people call 'blood chits', which supposedly give them permission to use images in perpetuity. In reality they mean almost nothing as they have little legal clout, so not having one doesn't mean they don't have permission, iyswim.

I'm not a lawyer but because of my work I just happen to know about this area.

Some legal type may come along and suggest other reasons for complaint, eg if the use of the photo suggests endorsement of something, or there are factual errors or the use of the photo implies something potentially defamatory.

There is a lot of confusion around this area as many people do believe they have a right to their own image in law, or that children cannot be photographed due to child protection legislation. This is (almost) always not true.

Sorry not to have better news.

Nice post Mij :).

[Bows]

Agree with Mij. I'm afraid there is probably little you can do legally. You could try writing to the publishers but even then the best you are likely to get is an agreement not to use this image if the book is reprinted.