Fraley v. Facebook: Social Media, Privacy, and the Law

February 10, 2012 6:57 PM

"The Fraley plaintiffs sued Facebook, alleging that its 'Sponsored Stories' feature, which displays ads on Facebook containing the names and pictures of users who have 'Liked' a product, violated California’s Right of Publicity statute. The statute forbids the commercial use of an individual’s name or likeness without consent. Integral to the plaintiffs’ claim was the assertion they had been injured because they were “celebrities” to their Facebook friends, such that their endorsements of the products in the Sponsored Stories held economic value—economic value that they were deprived of when Facebook published their Stories without their consent." - Famous for Fifteen People (Stanford Law Review): Celebrity, Newsworthiness, and Fraley v. Facebook (Citizen Media Law Project)
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective (10 comments total)

I love hearing stories like this, in which laws that are based on centuries-old values clash somehow with the modern world.
posted by hypotheticole at 7:29 PM on February 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

I love hearing stories like this, in which laws that are based on centuries-old values clash somehow

Bears vs Goldilocks
Prince vs Godmother
Old Mother Hubbard vs Buster Brown
RCA vs AKC
posted by Mblue at 7:50 PM on February 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

I would guess that nearly all laws are based on centuries-old values.
posted by kenko at 7:57 PM on February 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

I would guess that nearly all laws are based on centuries-old values.

I'm guessing our local village law that doesn't allow skateboards on the sidewalk on Main Street only dates back to about the mid '80's.
posted by HuronBob at 8:11 PM on February 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm guessing our local village law that doesn't allow skateboards on the sidewalk on Main Street only dates back to about the mid '80's.

But see, telling those damn kids to get off your lawn is definitely a centuries-old principle.
posted by mstokes650 at 8:15 PM on February 10, 2012 [8 favorites]

I'm guessing our local village law that doesn't allow skateboards on the sidewalk on Main Street only dates back to about the mid '80's.

Yes, and laws about wiretapping probably don't date back to before, you know, there was such a thing as wiretapping.

And yet privacy is a centuries-old value.

You see, the law can be based on an old value, while still mentioning new things.
posted by kenko at 8:31 PM on February 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Well, anything can be metaphorically stretched to be based on an "Old value" but lets take the laws against opium in the UK. 150 years ago they were actually fighting wars to force other countries to take the opium they were producing. Now it's banned. What's the centuries old principle there? Or what about sexual harassment laws?
posted by delmoi at 10:14 PM on February 10, 2012

I hope it means I don't EVER again get tagged in those Nike shoe ads again, or any other shoe ads!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:38 PM on February 10, 2012

150 years ago they were actually fighting wars to force other countries to take the opium they were producing. Now it's banned. What's the centuries old principle there?

How we can make more money regardless of exploitation, physical harm or irreversible human and environmental damage.

It's a pretty basic tenet of anybody who has power. Power wants more money, and more money wants more power. Or, more summarized – fuck you, i want mine and yours.
posted by kurosawa's pal at 12:13 PM on February 11, 2012

I would guess that nearly all laws are based on centuries-old values.

I'm guessing our local village law that doesn't allow skateboards on the sidewalk on Main Street only dates back to about the mid '80's.

HuronBob, those would be the mid-1980's. As in, last century.

So, century-old, at least!
posted by IAmBroom at 8:40 AM on February 12, 2012