Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Florida
my exgirlfriend took pictures of herself nude, then sent them to me in an email. and then she took some more and gave them to me on a memory card. i said i would put them on the internet. and now she says she will sue me. am i violating any laws by posting them?
2 Answers from Attorneys
If she does not want you to post them, why would you do that? If you are doing that just to hurt her, then try growing up first, as opposed to looking for a legal loop hole to justify being a jerk.
For starters, just because she gives you one set of pictures, you do not have the right to publically display the pictures. This violates copyright law. Second, she has rights of privacy and publicity which you would be infringing by posting her pictures without her permission. Third, if her character is actually damaged in a legally compensable way (for example, she loses a job and/or money, or her career is damaged, or she gets kicked out of school), you could be liable for this damage. And finally, you could be liable for punative (i.e. "punishment") damages which have nothing to do with compensating her for her damage and which are assess by a judge/jury strictly for the purpose of punishing you for your wrongful behavior and detering others from acting in such a way.
And, that's just what I can think of off the top of my head in 90 seconds. Imagine if a good lawyer took hours to think of ways to sue you?
Doesn't sound like such a good idea anymore, now does it?