Trendy-Lingerie.com — An American woman who sued her wedding photographers after pictures of her in her underwear while getting into her dress showed up in her password-protected online portfolio has lost her lawsuit.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische stated that what happened to Sara Bostwick might indeed have been embarrassing, but that the photo studio’s mistake legally did not meet the requirements for “emotional distress.”
The bride told the court that she had specifically forbidden the photographer from taking pictures of her in an undressed state.
But when — one month after the Sept. 20, 2008 wedding — Bostwick received her password to the online portfolio she saw pictures of herself in her underwear.
According to Gishe’s ruling Bostwick told the court that when she saw the pictures she “suffered from emotional pain and feared for her own physical safety.” However, Gishe notes that at the time Bostwick was the only person who had the password to her online photo album.
Three weeks after first seeing the photos Bostwick contacted photo studio Christian Oth to ask that the photos of her in her underwear be removed. The studio complied, but after Bostwick sent the password to friends and family members she discovered that the embarrassing photos were still available in another section of the album.
The embarrassed bride subsequently sued the photo studio.
Bostwick’s lawyer told the New York Post that Gishe’s decision will be appealed.
American Photo magazine has referred to Christian Oth as “One of the Top Ten Best Wedding Photographers in the world.”
Embarrassing Photos
Nowadays it is all too easy to share embarrassing photos online — on purpose or accidentally.
The case mentioned above demonstrates that it makes sense to always double-check before inviting others to view online albums.
If you post photographs online yourself, remember that any image you upload can potentially be shared with others. Always check every photo in each album you upload. After uploading your pictures, check again.
Most online photo storage websites offer various levels of access. Usually photos are either
- completely private — available only to yourself and to people you specifically authorize to view those pictur,.
- shared with family — normally a list of email addresses, or
- shared with friends — another list of email addresses
Always check the default sharing settings of the photo website you use. It is also a good idea to frequently re-check these settings — perhaps as often as you upload photographs.
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Notes
• Judge tosses suit filed by underwear bride, Dareh Gregorian, New York Post
• Stock image © Pepsona | Dreamstime.com
