Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: private pictures

There are various privacy torts with names like "public disclosure of private information" and, of course, the old standby, "intentional infliction of emotional distress." You asked your question under the intellectual property heading, which is a reasonable choice, but it isn't clear that you have a cause of action in that area. The closest might be some kind of copyright violation, but I have never heard of a copyright infringement suit based on anything other than unfair commercial exploitation.

If the photos are your property, you can sue for their possession, but that sounds more like plain vanilla property law, not intellectual.

It's hard to imagine why parents would want to do something like this to a child, even an adult child, and my first reaction was that the whole family needs counseling. Some kind of sick need to humiliate or embarrass? It's sad when families have to sue their own.

I'd find a lawyer you can work with comfortably; someone with some experience in privacy torts would be the key, but no great degree of expertise is as important as someone with whom you don't mind discussing your proposed case. My suggestion would be to sue for money damages, an injunction, and possession of all copies of all photos. Upon filing the suit, ask for a temporary restraining order and get the TRO as quickly as possible.