In the spring of 2000, 14-year-old Lindsay Bullard exposed her breasts to two unknown men in a

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Question:

In the spring of 2000, 14-year-old Lindsay Bullard exposed her breasts to two unknown men in a parking lot in Panama City, Florida. Bullard was aware that the men were videotaping her at the time and raised no objection to being videotaped. The two men and Bullard had no discussion about what future use the men might make of the videotape.

MRA Holding LLC obtained the recording and included it in its College Girls Gone Wild video series. MRA also used a still photo of Bullard that was taken from the video clip and placed it in a prominent position on the cover of the video box for the College Girls Gone Wild video that it later marketed and sold nationwide. On that image, MRA blocked out Bullard’s breasts and superimposed an inscription “Get Educated!” in that block. The inscription arguably gave the appearance that Bullard was making this statement. MRA did not obtain Bullard’s permission to use the video footage of her in the College Girls Gone Wild video or to use her photo on the video box cover. Television and Internet advertisements were aired that incorporated Bullard’s image

Bullard sued MRA for, among other things, appropriation of her likeness. MRA moved for summary judgment.

JUdICIaL OpINION

MELTON, Justice Here, Bullard is a private citizen whose image was arguably used without her consent to endorse an MRA product for MRA’s own commercial gain. Pretermitting the question whether Bullard, as a fourteen-year-old, could even legally consent to having her image used to endorse an MRA product for MRA’s commercial gain (and we specifically decline to reach that issue here), the facts as found by the District Court show that it was not possible for Bullard to have given MRA consent to use her image to endorse the College Girls Gone Wild video involved here. The men to whom Bullard exposed her breasts never indicated to Bullard that they worked for, had any connection with, or had any intention of giving Bullard’s image to MRA for the purpose of selling College Girls Gone Wild videos. Nor did Bullard have any contact with MRA to give MRA permission to use her image for that purpose. In short, any “consent” that Bullard may have given by exposing herself to the two individuals who videotaped her does not amount to consent for those individuals or an unidentified third party (MRA) to use her image to endorse a product for their own commercial gain. In this regard, as found by the District Court, MRA placed the words “Get Educated!” on the cover of the College Girls Gone Wild video in a manner that made it appear as though Bullard may have been making this statement. This could serve as an “endorsement” of the College Girls Gone Wild video by Bullard without her consent, as the viewer of the video cover is ostensibly being invited to “Get Educated!” about the contents of the video (and Bullard’s exposed breasts) by purchasing the video at Bullard’s request. Accordingly, Bullard states a claim for MRA’s appropriation of her image without her consent and for its own commercial gain. Again, here, MRA’s use of Bullard’s image on the cover of the College Girls Gone Wild video with an inscription that arguably indicated that Bullard was encouraging others to “Get Educated!” by purchasing it would suggest that MRA was using the image “as a part of an advertisement, for the purpose of exploiting [MRA’s] business.” Accordingly, MRA could be subject to liability for its actions. We find that, under the facts as found by the District Court, Bullard states a claim for appropriation of likeness under Georgia law.

Case Questions:

1. What was Bullard’s image being used to endorse?

2. Why is her consent to be videotaped not a defense for MRA?