The One Thing Never to Give Your Boyfriend or Girlfriend

You’re in love and you know it will last forever. So you give your special someone the perfect present, sexy photos that will definitely keep him thinking of you. But then the relationship ends, and he turns out to be a creep. A creep with really embarrassing pictures of you. That’s why it’s so important not to take and share pictures you would not want posted and seen by everyone you know. Because these days, a simple click of a button and those pictures can be emailed to everyone in town and posted all over the Internet on Facebook and other social networks.

But do people have a right to take private photos from a relationship that is now over and distribute or sell them? Jenni Farley, a Long Island native known better as JWoww (remember MTV’s “Jersey Shore,”?)  doesn’t think so. She learned late in 2010 that her ex-boyfriend and former manager, Tom Lippolis, was planning to market and distribute “numerous nude and/or partially nude digital images and videos of her” without her consent to publish or sell them.

You may not have the fame of JWoww, but racy pictures of anyone can be distributed and sold, and you may not know in advance to have time to stop it. The best thing to do is not allow anyone to take pictures you would not want anyone and everyone to see.

Who should you not share pictures with? Anyone, including:

• Your family
• For students, all your teachers, professors, and school administrators
• For anyone who has a job or plans to ever have a job, your employer and future employers (because once something is on the Internet, it is nearly impossible to completely delete it)
• Your friends and acquaintances
• Your future friends and acquaintances
• Everyone in your community from your mailman to the waiter at your favorite restaurant to the neighbor you see every day walking his dog.

If you are going to do it, have a written agreement that the photos are not to be distributed without your consent-not very romantic, huh? So the answer really is-don’t do it at all!

What Should You Do If Someone Shares Private Pictures of You?

If someone does share pictures or videos of you without your permission, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact our offices for a free consultation. We have experience with privacy cases such as these and will do everything to make you comfortable and let you know if you have a case.