Teen Photo used on Porn DVD

Parents often ask me for advice on how to monitor or educate their children about using the Internet. Most of them know I’m not a fan of MySpace or having kids post any kind of personal information online.

I have heard a number of stories about photos of kids being misused and how information teens publish come back to haunt them when applying to college or when looking for employment.

The latest story comes from a talented teen from England who experienced a very personal violation. Lara Coton discovered that a photo she posted when she was 14 was being used on the cover of a repackaged pornographic DVD made in the 80’s called Body Magic.

Click to see and read Lara’s Story

While it’s bad enough to be violated in this way, the publisher didn’t even offer to compensate her. Instead the response was

"I’M SURE BY THE END OF THE MONTH YOUR FACE WILL BE HISTORY. WE HAVE STOPPED SELLING THE DVD UNTIL COVER IS REPLACED. WE HAVE FURTHER CHECKED OUT YOUR NAME AND ITS NOT LIKE IT’S A HOUSE WHOLE NAME. ACTUALLY, REMOVING YOUR IMAGE WILL HELP IMPROVE THE SELL OF THE DVD….. SO FAR IT BOMBED."

Unfortunately for Lara, the DVD is still being distributed online. Lawyers have pretty much told her it wouldn’t be cost effective to fight.

So the lesson here is that pretty much any information or image posted by a normal person essentially becomes public domain. As I wrote in March, “Think Before You Post”.