Leslie Gornstein writes:
An artist is plastering naked photos of Scarlett Johansson in the streets! Haven’t those images been stolen? Does he want to get arrested?! —Flayva, via the inbox
As publicity tactics go, getting arrested is a fine strategy, right up there with a leaked sex tape or a staged paparazzi photo op with a paid beard.
At the risk of giving this artist still more publicity, I shall answer your question, which is:
Nobody is going to get arrested.
[…]
As for what kind of legal fight might ensue from all this, the answer is, probably, not much. The artist likely didn’t hack those photos himself, and he can’t hope to make an obscene profit from putting up posters outside vacant video stores—that is, a profit that ScarJo could pursue in court.
[…]
The fact that the photos are copyright and stolen “does complicate the matter, but it would depend on how much the photo is altered and how much a reasonable person would feel her privacy was invaded.”
Read more on E!
Does this seem right to you? Not necessarily as a matter of law, but does it seem right – that someone can take stolen photos of you and plaster them all over as “art?” Wouldn’t most reasonable people feel that this was, indeed, an invasion of privacy?