ex-boyfriend uploaded images of me onto the internet

susandeeee

Hi guys,

My ex (after a bad breakup) uploaded images of me naked onto the internet and also sent a video clip of us making out via email to my friends and also to work colleagues email. it was sent from a private account not in his name, but obviously i know where they originated.

Is there anything I can do??? Is there any laws against this?

edit,
by private i mean a hotmail account with an anonymous name

cowzerp

As far as i know, even if you had proof it was him its not illegal once he owned the copy as he obviously did, Hard lesson learned-Hard luck.:pac:

RedXIV

sorry for your troubles lass, but i think cowzerp is right. remember reading about all those laws when the infamous star wars kid was sueing his friends for uploading the vids of him. hopefully you have pics of him to do similar damage

Summerjones

What a horrible person, sorry to hear that. Pity it doesn't look like there's anything you can do.

DiscoHugh

This happened to a girl I know (a friend of a friend) She got a solicitor involved but I don't know what became of it. Best seek some kind of legal advice though as others have said I think the internet is carte blanche with regards to this kind o thing.

At the end of the day it is pretty normal for bf's/gf's to have pictures of an *ahem* intimate nature of each other so try not to let anybody judge you for it.

Unless you did something really ****ty to him it was a pretty immature thing to do.

allybhoy

Yep dont think you have a leg to stand on unfortunately OP. Best thing to do is to learn a lesson and move on, of course lesser people wud start telling mutual friends etc that he had a tiny manhood etc, but not u

AckwelFoley

Your ex is a complete bastard.

I would suggest revenge is the only solution in this situation

Ive just received an warning for this post. I cant retract my sentiments of what i believe he is for doing this, but i do suggest instead of revenge, you just forget about it and try to move on

Nevyn

Deny that it is you, say he is a sad git who photoshopped them.

steve927

Post a message on gaydar with his photo, email and mobile number, sorted!!!

LegacyUser

Anyone who has been on a user-submitted pornography site will tell you its very common for people to post videos of their exs as a means of revenge. You're not alone there.

You can spend the next while brooding over it or you can just forget about it. Law of averages says it will disappear in the ether.

All you can do is have your friends delete the mail really.

Wagon

At first glance you could maybe talk to a solicitor about defamation of character, but then again, like Cowzerp said, if he took these pictures with your consent (presumably) and is therefore the legal owner and can do what he likes

Unless you did something really bad to him, and I'm going to presume ya didn't , then I also vote revenge being the best option. He's an utter bollix for doing this anyway. Maybe shag a few of his mates?

RoyalMarine

Wagon wrote: »

At first glance you could maybe talk to a solicitor about defamation of character, but then again, like Cowzerp said, if he took these pictures with your consent (presumably) and is therefore the legal owner and can do what he likes

Unless you did something really bad to him, and I'm going to presume ya didn't , then I also vote revenge being the best option. He's an utter bollix for doing this anyway. Maybe shag a few of his mates?

we were given a speech the other day in the rdf (reserve defence force) and it was outlined that use of camera's are not allowed.

the reason we were given is that if you take a photo of anyone else, you dont own the photo. the person in the photo is the legal owner of it. if there are multiple people in it, then you have a share in ownership and no decision can be made without your approval.

OP, since its of an extreme nature, i would talk to a solicitor. its one thing to upload pics onto something like bebo or myspace, but to upload naked pics of you and share them with your work colleagues is immoral and by all accounts illegal.

how old are you by the way? were you of age in the pics? i mean if you were say 16 11months old you could do him on that.

1stimpressions

[QUOTE Maybe shag a few of his mates?[/QUOTE]

Wow, that'll learn him:rolleyes:

kowloon

I wouldn't sink to his level and try to get revenge, it might only encourage him to further distribute said images.
I would, however, contact a legal professional.
While he may own the rights to the pictures his vindictive use of them may constitute harassment or something of that nature.

Carrigart Exile

This kind of petty, spiteful revenge is usually the domain of women, so for him to have done that you must have been baaaaaaad.


You also have a problem proving he is the one who has posted the pictures, I would let it go, and count yourself lucky you got away from someone like him.

davyjose

Carrigart Exile wrote: »

This kind of petty, spiteful revenge is usually the domain of women, so for him to have done that you must have been baaaaaaad.

Wow, sexist much?

Op, like everyone seems to agree, just chalk it off. It's nothing that's likely to haunt you. But maybe, just maybe, when he's next dating a girl, you could let her know what kind of a guy he is.

Turn it round on him. Tell his ma, or his sister - you'll never have to see them again - they'll get to know what a scanger he is.

Johnee

You should get legal advice if you really want to pursue it. Laws on privacy are developing in Ireland - there is no Act passed by the government to cover this but the courts do protect the right to privacy - like the case of that landlady who was filming her tenants, or the one at the moment about the footballer who was photographed with his bits hanging out.

From what I know, its one of those cases where you can guarantee you would win as the law hasnt had to consider an exact case like yours - but you might have a good chance.

And the internet doesnt necessarily provide a cover - in one recent case (about privacy actually), the court ordered an ISP to disclose all the information they had about the identity of a person running an anonymous account.

preilly79

I'm not a lawyer but here's the legal standing in the US: (the same or similar practices may exist here in ireland).

your ex may be the owner of the photo but that does not give him the right to do with it as he pleases. all photagraphers are required to get people who feature in their photos to sign a 'model release form' which entitles the photographer to copyright ownership of the image, and relinquishes the rights on the model to claim any ownership royalties.

granted, this law is used to protect commercial interests, but given that you have not allowed your photo to be uploaded (and assuming the photo was not taken in a public place) then you could scare him into removing said photos.

some sites will assume ownership of any photos uploaded, so you will need to check the terms of service for whatever site he has uploaded it to. if you can convince them that you photo was used without a model release form or consent then they might be obliged to remove it.

colly10

Johnee wrote: »

You should get legal advice if you really want to pursue it. Laws on privacy are developing in Ireland - there is no Act passed by the government to cover this but the courts do protect the right to privacy - like the case of that landlady who was filming her tenants, or the one at the moment about the footballer who was photographed with his bits hanging out.

In both of those cases noone ever agreed to be filmed/photo'd in the first place, she did.
@OP - His mates have already seen the photo's the damage is already done so ye have 3 options really -

1) Get revenge (probably not too smart cause he still has the photo's, if he's legally allowed to mail them then he's probably legally allowed to create a website dedicated to ye)
2) Get legal advice
3) Forget about it

If I was you id choose the second

Overheal

I'd pick the Third honestly.

bren2002

RoyalMarineComm wrote: »

we were given a speech the other day in the rdf (reserve defence force) and it was outlined that use of camera's are not allowed.

the reason we were given is that if you take a photo of anyone else, you dont own the photo. the person in the photo is the legal owner of it. if there are multiple people in it, then you have a share in ownership and no decision can be made without your approval.

Not sure about that, that may be the advice you were given, but I'm not sure it's the law. AFAIK the person taking the photograph owns the copyright unless copyright has been specifically assigned to a 3rd party or you are in the explicit employment of the person who will own the copyright on what you photograph.

That's how wedding photographers make so much money charging for reprints and don't hand over the originals. It's the same with IP in employment.

allabouteve

Carrigart Exile wrote: »

This kind of petty, spiteful revenge is usually the domain of women, so for him to have done that you must have been baaaaaaad.

Hmm, apart from the obvious mysoginistic tone, nobody deserves this stuff

Sherifu

That sucks OP but I don't think there's a lot you can do. Learn from it.

Caoimhín

Hes just an arsehole, try not to beat yourself up too much.

Fremen

I'd be very careful of the Streisand effect here. Fighting this could backfire pretty badly. I doubt you could really hurt him with the law either: you'd probably have to prove that it was his computer that sent those mails, which would mean getting his internet provider to give up his personal information. Far, far more trouble than it's worth.

My advice would be just to ignore it. People have short memories and this will go away in two months. If you really can't let it be and need revenge, telling his mum or future girlfriend as suggested by another poster is a great way to go.

dudara

bren2002Advocation of violence is not tolerated in this forum. Please do not make such comments again. Take the time to read the PI charter.

dudara

pwd

ya if he took the photos he has the copyright. Doubt you can do much through legal means. Otherwise there wouldn't be any photos people didn't like of themselves in papers etc.
Probably best never to let people take photos of you you're not comfortable with strangers seeing. Even if the person taking them wouldn;t do something with them it's possible someone else could get hold of them.
Know it doesn't help too much hearing that now though

ImDave

Thats rough OP. As previous posters have said however, persuing legal action will most likely lead to wider publication of the images.

bren2002

dudara wrote: »

bren2002Advocation of violence is not tolerated in this forum. Please do not make such comments again. Take the time to read the PI charter.

dudara

Fair enough, apologies.

WEST

allabouteve wrote: »

Hmm, apart from the obvious mysoginistic tone, nobody deserves this stuff

Totally agree the OP did not deserve this. However for the ex boyfriend to email pics that that, the OP must of done something really bad to him.

To the peeple saying she should sleep with his mates, do you not think enough damage is done already.

jayteecork

Something tells me there's a troll at work here.

If not, you seem to be looking for a magic spell to make everything right.
Try to forget about it. Persuing legal action will only draw more attention on yourself.

Besides, all you were doing was having sex.

Abi

Im going with Thae on this one. If there is no shots with your face in it, give anyone that asks a symathy face and say 'ah god no.. that wasnt me at all. He took it so badly when we broke up, but sure what do you do?'

If there is facials in it.. 'Tiny manhood, felt the need to broadcast out of insecurity' /flounce off.

January

RoyalMarineComm wrote: »

we were given a speech the other day in the rdf (reserve defence force) and it was outlined that use of camera's are not allowed.

the reason we were given is that if you take a photo of anyone else, you dont own the photo. the person in the photo is the legal owner of it. if there are multiple people in it, then you have a share in ownership and no decision can be made without your approval.

That's a load of BS... what about candid photography? Who owns those? Because it's unlikely the person in the picture will ever see it. The photographer is the legal owner of any photograph they take unless they sell it to someone else.

I would just tell everyone that he posted it because he's lacking hugely in the size department.

quietobserver

is he lacking adrienne x? ahh maybe hes hoping for those emails to start sending to his hotmail account with the potions and lotions to make it bigger

Sangre

RoyalMarineComm wrote: »

we were given a speech the other day in the rdf (reserve defence force) and it was outlined that use of camera's are not allowed.

the reason we were given is that if you take a photo of anyone else, you dont own the photo. the person in the photo is the legal owner of it. if there are multiple people in it, then you have a share in ownership and no decision can be made without your approval.

OP, since its of an extreme nature, i would talk to a solicitor. its one thing to upload pics onto something like bebo or myspace, but to upload naked pics of you and share them with your work colleagues is immoral and by all accounts illegal.

how old are you by the way? were you of age in the pics? i mean if you were say 16 11months old you could do him on that.

they lied to you to get you to do what you're told.

Collie D

As somebody mentioned earlier, surely the OP would have had to sign a release or something? Have you considered contacting your local Citizens' Advice? They should be able to clear up the legalities. Ex sounds like a nasty piece of work.

Maybe tell him to take the photos down or you'll tell his mother and sisters what kind of man (I use the term loosely) they share a house with. I'm sure his male relatives wouldn't be too happy either. I'm sure anyone who has received the emails has already formed their own opinions about the guy so hopefully he will be ostracised.

To those who think the OP did something wrong - what could possible merit something like this. This is a low thing for the guy to do.

chuci

sorry op but your ex was an arse hole . dont think you can do much about the pictures. and if you did it may just draw more attention to them. if you really cant let it go get legal advice, if you cant do anything via that route and still want revenge tell his ma about what he did.

metaoblivia

OP, in a way, I know the embarrassment you're going through. A few years back, I had a stalker, and when I moved away to get away from him, he tried to blackmail me into telling him my new address by claiming to have naked photos and a video of me he had taken without my knowledge. When he described the video, it was in such detail that I knew not only was he telling the truth, but the exact night he had made it (which, even if the video doesn't exist - I was alone in my apartment that night. He had obviously been watching me, but I don't know how - scary). He threatened to put them on the internet and send them to various people if I didn't tell him where I was (this was through email). Then quite suddenly he retracted all of this and disappeared.
I've never seen the photos and I don't know if they even existed, but I was so embarrassed and ashamed, I didn't know what to do. And even now, fives years later, I have a hard time telling people I know.
It's a really helpless feeling because there's not much you can do. You could seek out revenge, but that really wouldn't make you much better than him. The best thing to do is seek legal advice, and failing that, lay low and the situation will blow over.

Liam Byrne

Firstly, whoever takes the photo DOES own the copyright [i.e. the rights to copy it], but does NOT have the right to post it on the internet, etc.....for example, professional photographers need to get the permission of the people in the photo before they can put the photo on their website as a sample.

Totally aside from that, he's a scumbag, and I wouldn't waste my time. In fact, see if you can turn it to your advantage.....if you're happy with how you look (you said they're naked photos, but not "dodgy" ones or anything) so you could drop it into conversation somewhere and say that you think you look great and that you can't understand why he did it because he's only showing everyone what he's missing out on.....

1) You're pointing out to everyone what a scumbag he is, letting them know what he did
2) You're saying "I'm OK with how I look naked"
3) You're pointing out that he's missing out
4) You're indicating that you don't give a **** so his action/revenge hasn't worked, except to let everyone know what a scumbag he is

On the other hand, you could just ignore it (completely, not just publicly).....from the sounds of it he ain't worth the agro......

ambro25

RoyalMarineComm wrote: »

we were given a speech the other day in the rdf (reserve defence force) and it was outlined that use of camera's are not allowed.

the reason we were given is that if you take a photo of anyone else, you dont own the photo. the person in the photo is the legal owner of it. if there are multiple people in it, then you have a share in ownership and no decision can be made without your approval.

Sangre and bren2002 (EDIT - and Liam Byrne , damn but I'm slow today ) are entirely correct: the photographer is the first owner of the copyright in the photographs he/she takes. End of, no ifs, no buts.

You may be referring to (and the OP should look up) Section 114 of the Copyright Act 2000 instead:

114.—(1) Subject to the exceptions specified in subsection (3), a person who, for private and domestic purposes, commissions the taking of a photograph or the making of a film has, where copyright subsists in the resulting work, the right not to have the work or copies of the work made available to the public.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the act of making available to the public, or authorising the making available to the public, of a work or copies of a work referred to in subsection (1) without the authority of the person who commissions the work infringes the right conferred by subsection (1).

(3) The right conferred by subsection (1) shall not be infringed by an act which under section 52 , 71, 72, 76 or 88 would not infringe the copyright in the work.

Of course, that pre-supposes the photograph is commissioned in the first place. Otherwise -again of course- the Section does not apply.

kthxbai

Praetorian

Perhaps the threat of legal action might be enough to stop further distribution.

The_Conductor

Digital Rights Ireland did an interesting article on photography and rights in Ireland a while back which may be of interest, will try to find a link.

Shane

Edit:

Link here

S./

calahans

Amazes me that people agree to taping/photos of private moments!! If you want to watch people f*cking, watch porn. You partner wants to see you naked, fine but they dont need a picture!!!!

valleyoftheunos

OP

Firstly; got to a solicitior and get some legal advice. I'm certain you have a case for compensation.

Secondly; He owns the copyright of the photos but he doesn't hav eth right to publish your image without your consent. If he posted these pics to a 3rd party website without your consent he may well have broken the law.

Thirdly; he clearly did this to cause embarassment and harm to you and your reputation. those malcious intentions mean that this could be a criminal action.

kaizersoze1980

any chance of a link to these pictures so we can judge if your face can be seen or not??

Marksie

Well there is always one isn't there: Kaisersoze, unhelpful posting. infracted

silverstealth

This is all about control, correct me if I am wrong but you initiated the split and he really wasn't very impressed. You dealt him a mortal wound of which he had no control. He decided to try and upset you in order to regain some control - hence posting the pictures etc.

I guess you have let him know how angry you are about his actions which will only ease his pain knowing he has got to you..

solution...

let him know via his friends that you have been offered modelling work with a big fat pay cheque from the pictures. come across as being really happy and excited that he has put you on the map..

Watch these images disappear literally in minutes of him finding out..

StandnDeliver

silverstealth wrote: »

This is all about control, correct me if I am wrong but you initiated the split and he really wasn't very impressed. You dealt him a mortal wound of which he had no control. He decided to try and upset you in order to regain some control - hence posting the pictures etc.

I guess you have let him know how angry you are about his actions which will only ease his pain knowing he has got to you..

solution...

let him know via his friends that you have been offered modelling work with a big fat pay cheque from the pictures. come across as being really happy and excited that he has put you on the map..

Watch these images disappear literally in minutes of him finding out..

+1

Carrigart Exile

silverstealth wrote: »

This is all about control, correct me if I am wrong but you initiated the split and he really wasn't very impressed. You dealt him a mortal wound of which he had no control. He decided to try and upset you in order to regain some control - hence posting the pictures etc.

I guess you have let him know how angry you are about his actions which will only ease his pain knowing he has got to you..

solution...

let him know via his friends that you have been offered modelling work with a big fat pay cheque from the pictures. come across as being really happy and excited that he has put you on the map..

Watch these images disappear literally in minutes of him finding out..

Max Clifford, is that you?:)