Someone took a photograph of a Dallas, Texas teen and then posted it to Flickr, an online photo-sharing website. Nothing out of the ordinary, thousands of people do the same thing everyday.

In this case, the photograph got downloaded by an Australian mobile phone company and was used in billboard advertisements in Australia. The billboard slogan was “Dump your pen friend,” making fun of the teen.

Turns out that when the photo was posted to Flickr, the photographer noted that it could be used by other people for almost any purpose, including making money. What control do you have over a photo, video, or any digital content that is accessible via the Internet?

In this case, the teen’s family is trying to sue the mobile phone company. Whether or not the family wins the case, will it remove the teen’s embarassment?

Original article: Family Sues Phone Company Over Ad

Response from Connor
Whether or not the family wins the case, will it remove the teen’s embarrassment?
I don’t think so because people will remember that picture for a long whether or not they win the case. It was a mistake to say that people could use that photo so commercial purposes but it would be a lot smarter to make people ask permission to use that photo. Especially if a huge company like virgin mobile put the photo on a billboard. There will be people that won’t know about the picture but in her school and group of friends, they will and probably either make fun of her.