Australian cell phone advertisements and lawsuits and all that jazz. And a cactus.

There was a lawsuit in the not so distant past pertaining to a girl from Texas who had her photo taken by a friend at a church function, and through a series of accidents her photo ended up as part of an Australian cell phone advertisement for Virgin Mobile. The add showed her picture, flashing the peace sign, and grinning, with the caption along the lines of "Dump your pen friend. Free calling Virgin to Virgin." The lawsuit was predominantly against the use of someone's photograph without their consent or knowledge, especially because the girl was only a child. 

I very much agree with this girl, against the advertisement. I think that it was incredibly wrong for someone to take the photograph and use it without her consent or knowledge, when they could have easily picked someone to take a similar photograph for the add. Yes, the company would have had to pay the person for the use of their picture, but I'm sure it would have been a lot less money than the lawsuit which followed. It's a scary thought to think that right now my picture might be used in an advertisement somewhere, without my knowledge, creating an image of myself that I don't know or won't know. 

The issue isn't so much the use of the photos without knowledge, because obviously that isn't okay, as we can see from the lawsuit. The issue that I, personally, have with it is the idea that it can't really be stopped. For companies, it's a way to cut expenses. If you google something, and a picture comes up, isn't it free for everyone to use? Companies have always been corrupt, and this is just another manifestation of that corruption, and no amount of lawsuits or new restrictions can truly stop them. The heart of the issue is that too many of our personal photos are too easily and readily available on the internet. We display them on facebook for our friends to see, and our friends' friends, and our networks, etc. We put them on our blogs and they become easy to find in a simple google search. As I speak, my photograph of a cactus in a supermarket on South Street could be the new logo for a plant store. The object that I am about to scan on my blog might be a new icon for a brand of paper bags or stylish receipts for chocolate. No, I'm not okay with that. But there is a simple solution to it all, and that is to make your photographs private. No, your friend's brother's girlfriend's best friend's cousin might not be able to see what an awesome time you had in the Italian Market, buying a cactus, but you also won't unintentionally supply a cactus store with a new icon, and that's definitely a good thing. 

On the topic of cacti, my cacti from South Street are doing quite well. :)