Facebook and the media

People post pictures of themselves and their friends on Facebook.

Because they are accessible in a public forum, is it cool to use those pictures without the permission of the owner?

Scenario: Student shot in gang-style killing. Friends set up memorial page on Facebook. TV station uses picture posted on the page.

 

Are they seeking permission first, or just grabbing it and using it?

To me, that would make a big difference.

 

I guess the courts will decide eventually, but you must be approved as a friend of Facebook to see pictures in most cases.

Some people will set up their pages so that everyone can see their pictures, friends and info. In that case, they should have no expectation of privacy, so it's fair game, IMHO.

If they make their pics private only to friends, then I think they have an expectation of privacy. So in that case, the pics are off limits.

 

They aren't accessible in a public forum. You have to be granted access.

 

You're referring to profile pages. I guess I wasn't clear that this was a group page that was set up. Up until yesterday, it was left to public access with pictures posted.

So anyone with a Facebook account could do a search for the student's name, arrive at the page, and see the pictures posted.

 

As far as I know, no permission was sought.

 

I say you can use it. It's the digital equivalent of a makeshift memorial by the side of the road.

 

Ooh ... ouch ...

The page in question is now closed to public access, at my recommendation.

This story has been all over the news, thanks to its circumstances. It's made for a very long week for me, with which I'm sure you can empathize.

 

why was it your place to recommend they close access?

 

Why not just continue the reporting and call the kid who posted it? At the very least, find out who took the picture and make sure it's OK to use it. I would never recommend just yanking something off the Web, even if it is a Facebook group page.

 

The TV stations around here would just access the page, then get video of the computer screen with that page on it. Then they'd use a really tight shot and scroll down.