What is my legal recourse if an ex-employer is using my picture for marketing without my approval?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What is my legal recourse if an ex-employer is using my picture for marketing without my approval?
An ex-employer that laid me off is using my picture on their facebook page claiming I am still an employee. The picture is used for marketing purposes. This is after I have signed a separation agreement. How can I be compensated for the use of my picture?
Asked on March 21, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
First, they don't have a right to do this, unless at some point you signed an agreement giving them permission to use your likeness. (If you did, that agreement is enforceable.)Without such an agreement, people may control use of their own likeness.
Second, you could ask them to stop and, if they don't, you could bring a legal action for a court order (called injunctive relief) requiring them to take down your picture.
As a practical matter, you probably can't get compensation. Compensation is based on damages; e.g. how much they made by using your specific image, or how much you'd normally be paid for the right to use your image. As you can imagine, celebraties, whose likenesses have a real--and provable--cash value can recover substantial damages, but for a non-celebrity, as a practical matter, there really may be little or no money at stake, making recovery effectively impossible or at least uneconomic to pursue.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.