Photograph of me being used in an instore campaign

barrymanilow

Hi , looking for some advice,

A few years ago I was working a job in retail and the manager I had at the time asked me to pose with some of the product outside the shop while someone from a buisness that ours supplied took a photograph of me and a few other shots of the shop and other displays etc . Me being a young employee instructed by my boss I went along with it .

Years later I have seen the image of me holding the product blown up and displayed in a store that is unrelated to the one the photographer was photographing that day .

I never signed anything like a consent form or anything like that .

I'm a very private person and Im not happy about being used in the marketing campaign .
Do I have any right to demand that the store stop using my image in their instore marketing and that they take it down ?

I'm planning on calling them and telling them to take it down within a week and all will be forgotten or else I will get solicitors involved .

Anyone have any insight into the legalities here ?

Paulw

You would need to speak to a solicitor, but I am unsure on what grounds you can demand the image is taken down.

You were asked to post for photos with products, as part of your job. You posed with products. A photo was then used as advertisement, which was the intended initial purpose of the photographs. What would you expect they do with the photos?

I would be curious as to what others think.

barrymanilow

Paulw wrote: »

You would need to speak to a solicitor, but I am unsure on what grounds you can demand the image is taken down.

You were asked to post for photos with products, as part of your job. You posed with products. A photo was then used as advertisement, which was the intended initial purpose of the photographs. What would you expect they do with the photos?

I would be curious as to what others think.

Thanks for your reply Paulw, The photographs are now being used as advertisement alright but not of by the company who I was working for when they were initially taken .

Craicho5

Paulw wrote: »

You would need to speak to a solicitor, but I am unsure on what grounds you can demand the image is taken down.

You were asked to post for photos with products, as part of your job. You posed with products. A photo was then used as advertisement, which was the intended initial purpose of the photographs. What would you expect they do with the photos?

I would be curious as to what others think.

Completely agree! It's a violation according to the European Court of Human Rights:

“[A] person’s image constitutes one of the chief attributes of his or her personality, as it
reveals the person’s unique characteristics and distinguishes the person from his or her
peers. The right to the protection of one’s image is thus one of the essential
components of personal development. It mainly presupposes the individual’s right to
control the use of that image, including the right to refuse publication thereof …” (von
Hannover v. Germany (no. 2), Grand Chamber judgment of 7 February 2012, § 96).

BrokenArrows

If you never signed anything exactly relating to the taking and using of your image and the reselling of those images then the original company and the new company dont have the right to use the image.

Depends on what was in your work contract for the original business. They might have a clause which states that they can take and resell your images for advertising (however this is unlikely).

1. Speak to the business where you saw your image being used and try and find out where they got the image from in the first place. You might find they got the image from some generic stock photography source which may indicate this is not the only business using it.

2. Depending on your personal requirements, you may be entitled to payment for use of your image.

3. If you just want to get rid of the image then you can request that the new business take down the image, but that may not solve the problem if the original is still being resold.

4. You can then contact the original company and try and find out why your image is being distributed.

All of the above depends on your original contract with the original company. Do you still have it?

If you run into any problems with the old or new company then you will probably need legal advice but i suspect its an easy win case.

barrymanilow

BrokenArrows wrote: »

If you never signed anything exactly relating to the taking and using of your image and the reselling of those images then the original company and the new company dont have the right to use the image.

Depends on what was in your work contract for the original business. They might have a clause which states that they can take and resell your images for advertising (however this is unlikely).

1. Speak to the business where you saw your image being used and try and find out where they got the image from in the first place. You might find they got the image from some generic stock photography source which may indicate this is not the only business using it.

2. Depending on your personal requirements, you may be entitled to payment for use of your image.

3. If you just want to get rid of the image then you can request that the new business take down the image, but that may not solve the problem if the original is still being resold.

4. You can then contact the original company and try and find out why your image is being distributed.

All of the above depends on your original contract with the original company. Do you still have it?

If you run into any problems with the old or new company then you will probably need legal advice but i suspect its an easy win case.

I never signed any contract with the original business I was working for , it was a very casual employment situation . The company now using the image are linked to the one that took the image in that a manager from that company now works for the one using the image . I suspect that is how they got the image and not from some online stock source .

To clear up confusion il do a made up example .

I was working for a fruit store . I was instructed to pose in a photo holding a watermelon and my picture was taken by a breakfast juice company who we supplied. The manager of the breakfast juice company left that company and started a yogurt business , my photo is being used in inside marketing by the new yogurt company. I'm not happy about it . I never signed consent forms or ever had a formal contract with the fruit store .

BrokenArrows

barrymanilow wrote: »

I never signed any contract with the original business I was working for , it was a very casual employment situation . The company now using the image are linked to the one that took the image in that a manager from that company now works for the one using the image . I suspect that is how they got the image and not from some online stock source .

To clear up confusion il do a made up example .

I was working for a fruit store . I was instructed to pose in a photo holding a watermelon and my picture was taken by a breakfast juice company who we supplied. The manager of the breakfast juice company left that company and started a yogurt business , my photo is being used in inside marketing by the new yogurt company. I'm not happy about it . I never signed consent forms or ever had a formal contract with the fruit store .

Under these conditions they have no legal right to use your image. Contact the manager of the yogurt business and request that he remove the image immediately and not to use it again in the future.

If you have any problems then threaten legal action.

If he still doesnt comply then you will have to consult a solicitor.

Wabbit Ears

TBH i think this thread would get better advice on the photography forum.

Arcade_Tryer

If they are in any way decent, they will take the photo of you down as soon as you ask them.

If not, they're pricks quite frankly, and you can threaten legal action before speaking to a solicitor. It might do the trick.

Little CuChulainn

Paulw wrote: »

You would need to speak to a solicitor, but I am unsure on what grounds you can demand the image is taken down.

You were asked to post for photos with products, as part of your job. You posed with products. A photo was then used as advertisement, which was the intended initial purpose of the photographs. What would you expect they do with the photos?

I would be curious as to what others think.

Seems like the current photos have nothing to do with the original photos taken. Would that not be a false testimonial?

Robbo

barrymanilow wrote: »

Hi , looking for some advice,

A few years ago I was working a job in retail and the manager I had at the time asked me to pose with some of the product outside the shop while someone from a buisness that ours supplied took a photograph of me and a few other shots of the shop and other displays etc . Me being a young employee instructed by my boss I went along with it .

Years later I have seen the image of me holding the product blown up and displayed in a store that is unrelated to the one the photographer was photographing that day .

I never signed anything like a consent form or anything like that .

I'm a very private person and Im not happy about being used in the marketing campaign .
Do I have any right to demand that the store stop using my image in their instore marketing and that they take it down ?

I'm planning on calling them and telling them to take it down within a week and all will be forgotten or else I will get solicitors involved .

Anyone have any insight into the legalities here ?

It's personal data so the employer should have sought consent in the first place if it was to be used for anything other than sitting on your HR file to remind people what you look like.

Take it up with the Data Protection Commissioner as both your former employer and the person now using the image have done so with scant regard to your rights.

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

TBH i think this thread would get better advice on the photography forum.

To be diplomatic, photographers tend to have a different view on privacy and data protection rights than others.

StupidLikeAFox

Is anybody else hoping this is actually Barry Manilow?

BrokenArrows

Curious about the outcome of this!