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“Aspiring model Rebecca Battino’s career got off to a strange start when sexy self-portraits she took as a 16-year-old popped up in an online iTunes application called ‘eXtreme Cam Girls,'” Boniello reports. “Unbeknownst to her, the images soon spread like a virus to dozens of flesh sites across the Web, making her an international sex sensation.”
Boniello reports, “Battino, now 19, took the pictures of herself in the mirror with a digital camera. The steamy shots were swiped from her computer, Battino claims in a $1 million Manhattan federal-court lawsuit that accuses Apple and app-maker Samba Studios of copyright infringement.”
“The application has since been removed from the iTunes store, but Battino is fuming that she hasn’t gotten any credit — or cash — for the shots,” Boniello reports. “‘I was just upset that I’m not being paid for my pictures,’ she told The Post. ‘I’m not embarrassed.'”
Read more in the full article here.
Adolescents do stupid things. I did. You used to be able move on and leave those stupid actions behind you as you matured. Not anymore. It’s not bad enough that others may capture your stupidity on video or pics. The lack of sense extends to enshrining yourself in the Idiots Hall of Fame. For all those here that regularly boo-hoo Parental Controls, all I can say is wait until you raise teen kids, especially girls. Parents want to simply get their kids through this period of life healthy and whole, with limited drama and angst. I feel for this girl, but can only advise her that laying low is probably the best action. Suing Apple only goes to show that she has a bit more maturing to do. Suing the publisher that is using the pic for commercial purposes without a release is fine.
She can take it up the ace!
She can take it up the ace!
Yo Fred: Sharon Mevsimler, the woman pictured in your (ineptly applied) link, died in July. Real funny, huh? Stay classy, douchebag.
Yo Fred: Sharon Mevsimler, the woman pictured in your (ineptly applied) link, died in July. Real funny, huh? Stay classy, douchebag.
If someone ran over her with their car would she launch a suit against the auto maker? Oh, yeah, I guess she would.
If someone ran over her with their car would she launch a suit against the auto maker? Oh, yeah, I guess she would.
From above:
” . . . would of learned . . .”
You meant ” . . . would HAVE learned . . .” This “of” thing (instead of “have”) comes from LISTENING, but not READING, a most lamentable state of affairs in this country, to be sure.
My apologies for this uncontrolled eruption, one and all, but sloppy writing comes from sloppy thinking, which comes from sloppy language arts education, sloppy proofreading, etc., etc., etc. The circle must be broken somewhere.
From above:
” . . . would of learned . . .”
You meant ” . . . would HAVE learned . . .” This “of” thing (instead of “have”) comes from LISTENING, but not READING, a most lamentable state of affairs in this country, to be sure.
My apologies for this uncontrolled eruption, one and all, but sloppy writing comes from sloppy thinking, which comes from sloppy language arts education, sloppy proofreading, etc., etc., etc. The circle must be broken somewhere.
She died? I wonder why?
She died? I wonder why?
I agree with all the reasonable post above me.
And with 2 teenage girls that have just turned 18 myself, “I have no more hair to prove it & Car Insurance Cost to rival that”.
Anyway, She has a cold chance in Hell of getting a dime from Apple at all, Now from the Content Application Developer that may be a different story.
“And to all the Fathers out their with teenage Daughters not past 18 yet- ” I Pray for You- With My Deepest and Sincerest Heartfelt Meaning”
Good Luck Brothers.
I agree with all the reasonable post above me.
And with 2 teenage girls that have just turned 18 myself, “I have no more hair to prove it & Car Insurance Cost to rival that”.
Anyway, She has a cold chance in Hell of getting a dime from Apple at all, Now from the Content Application Developer that may be a different story.
“And to all the Fathers out their with teenage Daughters not past 18 yet- ” I Pray for You- With My Deepest and Sincerest Heartfelt Meaning”
Good Luck Brothers.
Wow. You don’t automatically get paid for your pics.
Unless, of course, she signed a contract, which she clearly did not.
However, if these pictures are sexual in nature, and she was under age when she took them, it could be considered kiddie porn, even if it’s just softcore.
I’d stay the hell away from it personally.
Wow. You don’t automatically get paid for your pics.
Unless, of course, she signed a contract, which she clearly did not.
However, if these pictures are sexual in nature, and she was under age when she took them, it could be considered kiddie porn, even if it’s just softcore.
I’d stay the hell away from it personally.
I can’t see how Apple is in any way liable.
But if the app-creator used the picture without her permission, he would be liable. And if the picture is like I suspect, her in the mirror holding a camera, there’s no doubt that she’s both the photographer and the model and thus holds all the rights to the image.
(Still, I doubt that the developer of that kind of app is worth the kind of money she’s looking for.)
——RM
I can’t see how Apple is in any way liable.
But if the app-creator used the picture without her permission, he would be liable. And if the picture is like I suspect, her in the mirror holding a camera, there’s no doubt that she’s both the photographer and the model and thus holds all the rights to the image.
(Still, I doubt that the developer of that kind of app is worth the kind of money she’s looking for.)
——RM
Uh, to all you copyright experts above… whatever value judgements make you feel better by aiming them at this girl, the fact remains – you own copyright to any image you take the moment you take it. If she took images of her *cat* and they were used without her permission, she is entitled to damages. Since they are pictures of her, it only makes the case easier to prove.
No, oh Confused one, you don’t automatically get paid for your pics. However, any old company in the world isn’t entitled to use them for commercial purposes unless they, in fact, PAY YOU. Or you reach some other kind of agreement.
The fact that this girl has become a model further solidifies her case, as she is now in the business of selling her image, a kind of ‘intellectual property’ to which she is the sole right holder.
She’ll get paid, all right.
Uh, to all you copyright experts above… whatever value judgements make you feel better by aiming them at this girl, the fact remains – you own copyright to any image you take the moment you take it. If she took images of her *cat* and they were used without her permission, she is entitled to damages. Since they are pictures of her, it only makes the case easier to prove.
No, oh Confused one, you don’t automatically get paid for your pics. However, any old company in the world isn’t entitled to use them for commercial purposes unless they, in fact, PAY YOU. Or you reach some other kind of agreement.
The fact that this girl has become a model further solidifies her case, as she is now in the business of selling her image, a kind of ‘intellectual property’ to which she is the sole right holder.
She’ll get paid, all right.
@ Michael Perry
“So Apple doesn’t get randomly sued by every girl dumb enough to take sexy photos of herself…”
Wow… do you know *any* teenage girls? It seems pretty clear from the story that her pictures were ‘swiped’. Does this make her dumb? Or are all girls just dumb?
@ Michael Perry
“So Apple doesn’t get randomly sued by every girl dumb enough to take sexy photos of herself…”
Wow… do you know *any* teenage girls? It seems pretty clear from the story that her pictures were ‘swiped’. Does this make her dumb? Or are all girls just dumb?
I seriously doubt the pictures were “swiped” from her computer. It seems more likely the brainiac wasn’t at all careful with where she sexted her pictures, they went viral without copyright notice (thereby forfeiting her right to make copyright claims), the app maker got hold of them with no copyright watermarks, and used them.
So now she wants money after the fact. Gobs of money. A hundred-thousand times more money than such photos would ever get her if she actually wanted to charge for the “rare” art form of stripping off one’s clothes when trying to break into modeling.
Waaa.
I seriously doubt the pictures were “swiped” from her computer. It seems more likely the brainiac wasn’t at all careful with where she sexted her pictures, they went viral without copyright notice (thereby forfeiting her right to make copyright claims), the app maker got hold of them with no copyright watermarks, and used them.
So now she wants money after the fact. Gobs of money. A hundred-thousand times more money than such photos would ever get her if she actually wanted to charge for the “rare” art form of stripping off one’s clothes when trying to break into modeling.
Waaa.
@ Greg L
Yes, we know this, because girls are dumb.
“(thereby forfeiting her right to make copyright claims)”
No, actually not at all. A picture you take can go viral all over the world, but THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT PUBLIC DOMAIN. No company is then entitled to use that image for a commercial purpose without you releasing the image to them. PERIOD.
No one can use any photo they find laying around without a rights release and not expect to get sued. And it’s attitudes like yours that have made it just about goddamned impossible to make a living as a photographer any more.
@ Greg L
Yes, we know this, because girls are dumb.
“(thereby forfeiting her right to make copyright claims)”
No, actually not at all. A picture you take can go viral all over the world, but THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT PUBLIC DOMAIN. No company is then entitled to use that image for a commercial purpose without you releasing the image to them. PERIOD.
No one can use any photo they find laying around without a rights release and not expect to get sued. And it’s attitudes like yours that have made it just about goddamned impossible to make a living as a photographer any more.