Court Confirms Ruling Against News Media Outlet for Publishing Images Without Consent

The Court of Appeals in Civil Matters of the City of Buenos Aires confirmed a ruling against a well-known news portal for disseminating a photograph—which included minors—without the express consent of the plaintiffs. The image was used to illustrate a news story about the wedding of an alleged local soccer team “hooligan.”

Although both the defendant and the plaintiffs had appealed the first instance decision, the Court of Appeals decided to reject both appeals and confirm the ruling. The news portal argued that the photograph was not taken without the consent of the plaintiffs and that it illustrated a piece of news of general interest. However, the Court held that consent must be express and unequivocal for disseminating an image, and that merely agreeing to be photographed does not imply consent to publish the photography on a widely disseminated Internet media outlet.

To rule in this way, the Court quoted precedents regarding image rights and highlighted the exceptions to express consent to capture or reproduce a person’s image or voice, which did not apply to the case. It also described the plaintiffs’ image as unsuitable and unnecessary to illustrate a celebration of a former “hooligan,” even when the article could be of general interest. The Court reminded the defendant that the act is unlawful if reproducing the image is superfluous for the general purpose at hand.

The Court concluded that the dissemination of a photograph without consent and without addressing the exceptions the Argentine Civil and Commercial Code states is an unlawful act in itself, that might cause liability for compensable non-monetary damages.

This ruling highlights the importance of the media’s responsibility when dissemination images on the Internet