Will we get sued for posting photos on Facebook?

June 24, 2010 12:47 PM

Is it legal for me to post photos of people on our corporate Facebook fan page that were taken during an event of ours?

We have events where we send out our mascot. People naturally take photos with them, sometimes we take photos of people with them, sometimes people email us photos. However, we have no written release from these people. Frequently there are children in the photo. Is this something I can post to our Facebook page? Is it assumed since our staff is taking photos of people with the mascot that there is no expectation of privacy?

posted by UMDirector to law & government (4 answers total)

You appear to be asking for legal advice on behalf of a corporation, and you should ask your company's legal counsel rather than asking your question here.
posted by The World Famous at 12:54 PM on June 24, 2010

I'm not sure about legally, but I'd sure be ticked if my kid had a few words with your mascot and a photo of same turned up on your site. I would certainly track you down and ask you to remove it, thereby killing all the goodwill you earned by having a mascot.

If you think you've got a cute photo, ask the adult with the child to sign a release "in case you want to post it." There are lots of samples out there in the world.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 12:55 PM on June 24, 2010

Frequently there are children in the photo. Is this something I can post to our Facebook page? Is it assumed since our staff is taking photos of people with the mascot that there is no expectation of privacy?

Generally, no, you cannot; especially with children. I work for a NPO that does a lot of photographing kids and putting them on facebook and the like, but we must retain photo releases for all photos viewable by the public. Even if this isn't the explicit law in your jurisdiction, I think you're still ethically obligated to obtain parental permission.
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:34 PM on June 24, 2010

We do it and they require a release from the people you are taking photos of.
posted by stormpooper at 6:33 AM on June 25, 2010