Ask DrewDevil your legal questions

[sethypooh21]

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What legal consequences could there be if I posted pictures of an ex-gf in a forum or somewhere on the Internet and she stumbled upon them? Some pictures were sent to me via e-mail by her and some are taken myself with my cell phone, if that matters.

I'm sure I know what everyone else's reply is going to be, but I'm interested in DrewDevil's reply. I always thought I could get in trouble for doing something like this, but maybe I'm an idiot?

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The law here is pretty murky and there will probably be some lawsuits about this in the future, but right now, generally speaking...

If you took the pictures, you own the copyright to them, so you can probably post them anywhere you want.

If she took the pics and sent them to you... eh, not sure. As long as you're not trying to use them to profit, you're probably still okay.

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I would argue that the pictures you took and then posted would probably constitute an invasion of privacy. The ex gf probably consented to you taking the pictures which were done in a private setting (I assume). At that point, you and her have a tacit agreement that the two of you share in the privacy of the photos. She would have to give express consent for you to be authorized to publicize the photos to a forum beyond the two of you.

So, technically, without her consent to publicize, you own the photo, but you do not own the rights to do whatever you want with them.

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Like I said earlier, I think the content of the photo is a pretty key fact - if you're hanging out in a park or on a beach, that's a very different thing than slightly more, er, candid, shots...