Airline Ordered to Pay Damages for Unauthorized Use of Image

The Civil and Commercial Court 1 of the City of Mar del Plata issued a ruling in the case causa “D. M. F. c/ Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España S.A. s/ Daños y perjuicios,” in which a private individual claimed that the airline had used her image on its website without authorization. The Court upheld the claim, emphasizing the autonomous and personal nature of the right to one’s image.

On the one hand, the plaintiff proved that the company had been using her photograph without any form of consent since 2010. On the other hand, the airline argued that it had acquired the image from a renown image stock platform but failed to prove the existence of the contract or any rights of use.

The Court stated that the right to an individual’s image involves the exclusive authority to decide over the capture and dissemination of an individual’s likeness, citing Supreme Court cases “Gimbutas” and “Mazza.”

The Court concluded that the airline conduct violated article 53 of the Civil and Commercial Code, article 31 of Law 11723, and constitutional privacy protections (article 19 of the Argentine Constitution and article 11 of the American Convention on Human Rights).

Regarding damages, the court awarded the plaintiff AR$ 19,110,000 in patrimonial damages and AR$ 5,000,000 in moral damages, quantified based on the average cost of a Buenos Aires–Madrid ticket for each year the image was used without authorization.

This ruling reinforces the strict interpretation of consent in matters involving the use of personal images and is relevant for those using images obtained from stock images companies.