Opinion ID: 2356237
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Publicity Given to Private Life

Text: Restatement (Second), Torts § 652D provides: One who gives publicity to a matter concerning the private life of another is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if the matter publicized is of a kind that (a) would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and (b) is not of legitimate concern to the public. Merely exposing a person to undesired publicity is insufficient per se to constitute a tort even though the exposure was unauthorized. Conjoined with the exposure, publicity must be given to matters concerning the private, as opposed to the public, life of the person involved. Certainly it could not be argued that a person's normal facial appearance is of private concern only. Persons who might see this infant plaintiff would learn as much about him as they would by observing his published picture. In short, the publication disclosed nothing about the private life of this infant plaintiff that was unknown to anyone who might see him. A person's facial appearance is exposed to the public eye. The publication of the smiling face of a young boy of Indian origin set against a background of woods and water disclosed nothing otherwise not available to the public. We note, of course, that there is no allegation that this particular photograph was highly offensive to the infant plaintiff.