Lara Jade sues

Regular readers will remember a few months back when the Lara Jade scandal erupted. I wasn’t the first one to write about the porn company that used one of her self-portraits (taken when she was 14) to sell re-packaged “classic” porn (and her plea for help on Flickr), but I did write a fairly high-profile piece about it (see Lara is Not A Porn Star and my follow-up post to get the whole bizarre story). This morning I was contacted by Lara’s lawyer — because I wrote about the case, he thought I’d be interested to see the release about the lawsuit filed against TVX Films (and associated retailers) today. Here’s their press release, with permission:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2007

TEEN PHOTOGRAPHER SUES PORNOGRAPHERS OVER UNAUTHORIZED USE OF IMAGE

Tampa, Fla. – Teenaged photographer Lara Jade Coton never expected one of her
photos to turn up on the cover of a pornographic movie. She certainly never expected to
see a picture of herself on such a movie. But that is exactly what Lara Jade found when
she discovered that an innocent self-portrait, taken when she was only 14 years old,
was obtained off the Internet and used without permission as the DVD cover and face
art for the sexually explicit movie “Body Magic.”

“I was absolutely horrified to see my work and my own picture being used on that
kind of movie,” said Lara Jade. “It’s just appalling.”

What’s even more appalling, according to Lara Jade’s attorney, is the way she was
treated when she contacted TVX Films of Texas and asked them to stop using her
picture. Richard A. Harrison, attorney with Tampa-based Allen Dell P.A., said the
company responded first by ridiculing the young woman, then by accusing her of trying
to perpetrate some kind of scam. “Adding insult to injury,” Harrison says, “the company had the audacity to blame Lara Jade for the disappointing sales of its porn movie.” Bob Burge, president of TVX Films, told Lara Jade in an email, “Actually, removing your image will help improve the sale of the DVD. So far it bombed.”

In a lawsuit filed today in federal court in Tampa, Florida, Lara Jade accuses Burge
and TVX Films of copyright infringement, civil conspiracy, misappropriation of her
image, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit also
names other online retailers of the movie in claims for copyright infringement.

“We’re asking a jury to award damages, including punitive damages, for the
outrageous conduct of Burge and TVX,” Harrison said. “We’re also asking the court to
stop these pornographers from using the picture and to impound any copies of the
movie or other materials on which Lara Jade’s picture appears.”

Harrison is also consulting with state and federal law enforcement agencies. “If it’s
not a crime to put a 14-year-old child on the cover of a porn video, it sure ought to be,”
he said.

The case demonstrates a dilemma facing artists today and reveals yet another
danger of the Internet for teens and children. While the Internet offers creative people a
worldwide outlet for their work, it’s also common for artists to find that their work has
been borrowed innocently or just plain stolen by others.

For parents, the case demonstrates how easily children can become victimized in
the age of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. “This amazing
technology allows us all to share our photos with friends and loved ones, but parents
must realize that any picture a child puts on the Internet is about three mouse clicks
away from being stolen by anybody,” Harrison warned. “And as this case shows, it could be used for anything, including pornography.”

Lara Jade Coton is an 18 year old photographer and college student who resides in
England. She took up photography at the age of 14 and also works in photo
manipulation and digital art. Her work can be seen at www.larajade.com.

Allen Dell, P.A. is a leading Tampa law firm. It has been established in Tampa for
more than 80 years and maintains a diverse civil practice. The firm’s website is at
www.allendell.com.

Follow-up: I think it’s really unfortunate that they’re using “for the children” internet porn (and 2.0) hysteria for an unauthorized use case. But I also think it’s really fucked up (and gross) that TVX Films used that photo.