Picture Modification Nudity Website

Hi, I'm about to start a website where people can submit their own pictures privately and have a talented photoshop expert friend of mine make them a realistic naked. Adults only of course. Do you think its legal or it could bring up any problems?

I'm aware that some people will just download some friends picture from facebook and submit it as theirs but I'm thinking of some sort of disclaimer saying something like "By submitting a picture you agree that you are the owner and have all rights over the picture, and the person in the picture is not underage. We will not accept any submissions if we suspect otherwise, etc"

Some friends have said I would soon be sued but I have no idea if that can happen even with the disclaimer...?!?!?! Who is the legal entity that could prosecute me exactly? The thing is I live in south america, not the US, but I don't know of any national internet laws? ...and would it matter where I get my hosting? Is there any country that could offer hosting where it isnt a problem?

...what if it's a cartoon based on their face or something? and does one need to take any considerations if there is some nudity featured on the site?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as the website has already been designed and I just recently thought of this right before going online! duh!

Thanks, anyone!

I can only answer you with regard to US law.

Many people unfortunately have very little understand as the way copyright and contracts / agreements / disclaimers work. You can disclaim everything under the sun but it doesn't protect you from being liable for copyright infringement. When someone provides you with a "work of authorship" (a copyrightable thing such as a picture, poem or song), you may have them represent that it is theirs and that they will defend you if you are sued for copyright and be indemnified (paid) if a judgment is entered against you. This means that you can get sued and be required to pay but the agreement says that this other person will pay you so you can pay the plaintiff. What if that person who hired you has no money? Tough luck - you are stuck paying the judgment.

I don't know whether you will get sued and it takes a great deal of effort to sue someone. But it is possible that your ISP may not want to deal with the mess. It is difficult to say and it's a risk involved in this business. Given that most people could take a picture of themselves naked, suffice it to say that you may be opening up yourself to a large number of complaints that someone may hear and you will have to deal with. That's the reality and above you have the law. Best of luck to you.

Hey, I really appreciate your informative reply!

OK so if I understand correctly: Anyone (I guess the owners of the picture could be facebook.com) could actually sue us for modifiyng a picture even if it's not released to the public (we would only email it to the costumer) right?

What you say is that, even if a disclaimer includes an agreement with the costumer assuming financial responsability in case judgement is brought against us, it is not enough to avoid paying, right?

Any idea of the legal entity that could prosecute the company if we are based in S.A.? Would U.S. law apply if say a U.S. citizen wants to sue? Do they have to go through our ISP?

Anyway, THANKS A LOT!

Your disclaimers are basically worthless. If a large company wanted to pursue you in your country, they may very well do so. You are setting up a risky venture.

seniorjudge said:

Your disclaimers are basically worthless. If a large company wanted to pursue you in your country, they may very well do so. You are setting up a risky venture.

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Enough said, I'll stick to my music THANKS!

Just one last question... what if it's a cartoon based on someone's face from a submited picture? Can one be possibly sued for that aswell? thanks!

Yes, they can.

If the cartoon is recognizable - even if it's satire (which is - generally - quite well protected in the US) - a person can still be successfully sued.

nakedfb said:

Just one last question... what if it's a cartoon based on someone's face from a submited picture? Can one be possibly sued for that aswell? thanks!

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Technically a cartoon based on a picture could be considered copyright infringement because it might be considered a "derivative work." While I doubt that will ever be an issue (difficult and expensive to prove), there are other issues you might have to deal with, especially given the purpose of your site. It's designed to be provocative and offend the sensibilities of the victim. The legal system isn't easy to use over international boundaries but you're asking to deal with something. If copyright won't work you have to wonder what else you might have to face, including potentially losing your abilities to take credit cards. Ventures like these might survive for a while but typically face problems over time and I don't see long term viability.

Thanks tlp!

It's all clear now. Even if it works, it will only be a matter of time before something gets to it. It seems the idea is too risky. I will now return to my less controversial biz ideas but thanks for you insights!

Have a fantastic evening!