Chang v. Virgin Mobile

Description

Flickr CC BY photo used in an Australian phone advertisement

Case summary

BACKGROUND

An Australian mobile company used a CC-By licensed Flickr photo of a young girl as part of its advertising campaign launched in 2007. In September 2007, Plaintiffs brought suit against the mobile company under a number of causes of action, including invasion of privacy, copyright violation and breach of contract. They also brought suit against Creative Commons for negligently failing to warn creators that the CC licenses only address copyright and not privacy and publicity rights. Australian mobile company used a CC-By Flickr photo of a young girl as part of an advertising campaign it launched in June 2007

RESULT

Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the suit against CC a couple of months after filing their first complaint. The Texas district court later dismissed the case against the mobile company for a lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed CC from the lawsuit in November 2007 In January 2009, the Texas district court dismissed the case against the mobile company for lack of personal jurisdiction

TAKEAWAY

Creative Commons licenses only address the creator's copyright. It does not cover publicity or privacy rights. Users of CC-licensed material should make sure to clear the publicity and privacy rights of any works containing human subjects before making a commercial use of the work.