I guess this is old news (from January) but I just read about it in Xbiz and don’t recall seeing a post here so I thought I’d submit it for discussion because it does raise some interesting issues:
Basically a blogger was posting images of Bel Ami models with their real names so the models got a US judge to issue a subpoena to Google so they could learn the bloggers identity and sue them. They’re claiming copyright infringement and want compensation.
I’m not in favor of posting models real names but the part about using the images concerns me, especially if the blogger was a Bel Ami affiliate and used the images to promote the site. It would be worrisome if a model could sue me because I used photos from a sponsor and maybe included some text or a review the model was not happy with.
If the blogger was a Bel Ami affiliate, why would they have to get a subpoena to learn their identity?
From what I remember about that situation, Bel Ami was completely in the right. Lawsuits almost always start with a cease and desist letter. If you are well intentioned, cooperative and using content provided to you from sponsors you have almost no risk or being sued.
There is a thin line that you cross and I make a point to never mention a model’s real name without their consent unless it’s already public information.
I think I remember this blog… the guy was posting links to the models real facebook accounts and personal information about them. Photos of their family and stuff that really shouldnt be in the public eye. Total infringement of privacy so I can imagine why the models have decided to sue.
I’m not sure if its the same guy, but another blog doing the same about another sites models (also Czech models) but that got quickly shut down.
Simply put, there’s a reason models/actors choose “stage names.”
Yes, people are always interested and would like to contact models either directly or through social media. Hopefully, it’s with good intentions and praise. However, not worth the risk of having their private life shared with the general public.
IF the model/actor is okay having his private life shared on the web, then they know, or at least should know, the risks. “If” and “when” a bad experience comes out of it, they have no one else to blame. I hesitate to think that they are that naïve.
This is yet another example of how Google - the publisher - is without any liability for someone using their “platform” in this way. This website’s been around for years, and if you are a Bel Ami fan looking for Bel Ami information, it’s pretty easy finding it in their search results.
Best of luck in getting what you want from the “Don’t Be Evil” corporation.
It raises another question though, doesn’t it?
Why is it okay for paparazzi and reporters to stalk an actor or musician, and for bloggers to gossip about their private lives, but not if you’re a porn star?
If they win this case and the blogger is shut down/fined or whatever, thousands of celebrities can then use this as a precedent to show that they are in the same position whenever a pap chases them down the street taking photos, or when their private photos are leaked, or when someone writes about their real life outside of their work and includes information about their private relationships.
Personally, I agree that these things need to change. Just because someone is making movies does not give the gutter press a right to know everything about them. We’ve bastardized the journalistic principle of “in the public interest” to also include “titillates the public”, when this is not the intention of the ethical position. It’s supposed to mean that journalists have a right to report on things which directly affect the lives of the public, not things that the public has a mindless hunger for but no right to know about.
I hope they win, and I hope mainstream celebs are paying attention to this precedent. Maybe then we’ll see a change in the stalking media so many people have become so used to and accepting of?
