can my friend press charges in the UK if someone uses one of my pictures without my consent?

[Catherine]

A friend of mine had one of her pictures used without her consent publicly online and I was wondering if she could do anything about it legally?

[Rance]

if you own a copyright or trademark on the image, then yes

[The Great Quizoo]

That depends on what you mean by 'her pictures'. If the photos were taken by here or owned BY here, then she owns the copyright and can act against anyone posting them. However, if she did not take the photos, or if she gave up her rights to the photos (by posting them on Facebook, for example), then someone else may very well control them.

[Jay]

If your friend had a photo used that belonged to her, either because she took the photo or bought the copyright to it then she can sue for copyright. But...if she put it up on a website then you need to check the T&Cs of that website. In the smallprint it might say that any photos loaded up may be used by the website.

Instagram for example changed their conditions a year or so ago so that they could use photos that been loaded for promotional use without "any compensation".

[Stephen]

It's YOUR picture. How can your friend press charges?

If you put it on the internet it's out there and there's nothing you can do about it.

[Sarky]

By "one of her pictures" do you mean a picture of her or a picture she has taken?

If the former then she has no comeback as the photographer owns the copyright and can just about do what they want with it including display the image publicly.

If the latter and she actually took the photo then she can sue for copyright infringement.