HS Track Athlete Plagued by Online Photo

[gpgyo]

There was a short article in the Houston Chronicle today that talked about a high school student whose picture was posted online without her knowledge. Apparently the attractive young lady is a standout at the pole vault and holds several records in her state. According to the article, in the picture she is adjusting her hair with her pole resting on her shoulder and her midriff is exposed. After the picture making the rounds on the Internet, she and her school has received a lot of calls requesting photoshoots, including one from a risque Brazilian magazine. I have not seen the picture but I expect that if it was taken at a track event it cannot be overly provocative.

Articles like this concern me because I shoot pictures of high school athletes and post them online. If a parent reads an article like this one and thinks it could happen to his child, it could cause me and other high school sports photographers problems. I post online as a means of making the photos available for purchase and I don't ask anyone for permission before I do it. Over the past few years I have read probably hundreds of posts on message boards debating whether or not its appropriate to post pictures, especially those of minors, without permission or recounting stories of angry parents insisting a picture be removed from a photographer's website and the like. While its never happened to me, I have always known that if someone asked me to remove his child's picture, I would immediately do it, no questions asked. (I post pictures to sell them so if a parent is not happy with me, its unlikely he will be buying anything from me, therefore, no reason to keep it online. There's nothing for me to gain by getting into an argument on whether or not I have the right to post pictures.)

My experience has been the opposite. I have had parents yell at me from the stands asking where they can see the pictures I'm taking or asking me to get pictures of his child. I have had both parents and students tell me they enjoy seeing my pictures online. I've seen the increased activity on my website for a couple of days after parents have seen me on the sidelines and if I do not post pictures soon enough for some, I've received emails asking when I will be getting them online. Having said that, I am also careful about what I post. I won't post an image of someone that I think is questionable in taste or that the subject would not appreciate (funny faces aside.) I also shoot for a local newspaper so I sensitive about protecting my sideline privileges.

Personally, and I don't know what the law is on this, I don't believe I should be posting pictures online of someone who doesn't want me to do it. I do believe that I am providing a service that most people appreciate, and that's how I justify doing it. The all positive responses and no negative responses I have gotten further reinforce this. Having said that, if a picture I put online were used/abused in a manner that caused someone grief, that would cause me grief as well. I'm not sure what I would do if it happened. Perhaps use my rights as the copyright holder to force other websites to take the picture down. Maybe even give my copyright to the affected child or parent so they could do it. All of us take pictures so all of us have some exposure. It might happen with a picture of a bride you took and posted here for comments. Maybe a picture of another TPF member you took at a meet and greet. Could be an unknown person doing something funny at a park and you posted it in a blog to share with others for fun. If you take pictures and post them, it could happen to you.

What do you think? What would you do if it happened to you?

Greg

[CobyPhoto]

This one of the main reasons I never post photos of underaged kids on line...ever. In our society of "I am Suing you" you can never be too careful, and especially where this is concerned.

CJ

[MarcoFromHouston]

Wow, that was a long post.

I saw this on MySpace a while back. Its a nice pic....not provacative or bad or anything.

Taken with a Mark II & a nice "L" lens.

If anything, her pic might inspire others to compete in track & field.....

The athlete's name is Allison Stokke.

[shawn patrick]

It seems like she could have cashed in on all this attention. I realize she wasn't trying to be famous but I see athletes everywhere selling shoes, sports drinks, milk, Wheaties, Canon cameras and printers etc. She could have turned the unwanted attention into a retirement plan.

[Daylon]

Googled the name.. really really nice picture. She looks like a model-turned-olympic athlete.

D.

[boomerd35]

Coby is right about the lawsuit happy society. But you can get sued for anything anywhere, and I guess everybody has to find their level of comfort for what is acceptable risk. Not only are we lawsuit happy, but in questions of anything dealing with minors, you are basically seen as guilty until proven innocent. I post pictures of high school kids online because most varsity players are pretty close to adult and I'm not posting anything that wasn't seen at the sporting event. However, it would probably only take one angry parent to change everything.

[LPFyreDawg]

Originally Posted by boomerd35

... Not only are we lawsuit happy, but in questions of anything dealing with minors, you are basically seen as guilty until proven innocent. I post pictures of high school kids online because most varsity players are pretty close to adult and I'm not posting anything that wasn't seen at the sporting event. However, it would probably only take one angry parent to change everything.

I agree with Boomer, however I have found that most if not all the parents are glad to see me on the field shooting their kiddos of any age. They know I can get to places on the feild they can't. Plus it also leaves them time to enjoy the game or whatever the event is and not have to worry about take lil' Tommys picture. I get more request to shoot lil league sports then I and my wife have time to. Which is a good thing I guess.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/or...21283388.shtml
More details on what all is going on, I think the Brazilian Magazine request was the last straw.

She is striking, wonder how her first year in the NCAA will turn out? Now the NCAA rules for photographs kick in at her meets if she will still be jumping. Wonder what her record is and if she is good enough to try for the Olympic team coming up in 2008?

[Mike G]

In her high school track and field career, Stokke had won a 2004 California state pole vaulting title, broken five national records and earned a scholarship to the University of California

She's likely good enough for the Olympic Team, best at the 2004 Olympics was 15.27' .. her best is 13'7" and she's not gonna do anything but get stronger for the next few years unless injury takes her out.

[markperez]

I am not sure what the big deal was with the picture. She looks like a 17 year in nothing more then what volleyball players wear. Hopefully she can just "weather the storm" for a few weeks and pervs can go on to some other myspace pic

[juliejknight]

One thing I do with minors is to password protect the posting. At the sporting event, I hand out a card with the web address and the password, then it's not in general circulation. This has worked well in my experience. Good luck!

[boxofrocks]

I haven't heard anyone take issue with the photo or the photographer's right to take it. It's the Internet phenom it stirred up that's the source of the problem.

Athletes performing in a public venue have no right not to be photographed. If the photo were risque (her track uniform maladjusted and revealing more than it was designed to, for example), that might be another matter. This was just a photo of her standing there, and a very nice capture from a technical perspective.

The photographer can't help it if she's attractive. as long as he doesn't market it for inappropriate uses, I fail to see a problem.

If I password protected all of my HS sports galleries, my revenues would decline sharply. I have over 10,000 images online, and have yet to have a complaint. If and when someone gripes, I'm more than happy to remove the image in question. If they want to go farther than that, they won't have a leg to stand on. If someone can show me one verifiable instance that shows otherwise, I'm happy to look at it, and grateful for the info.

[Cope]

Originally Posted by boomerd35

Not only are we lawsuit happy, but in questions of anything dealing with minors, you are basically seen as guilty until proven innocent.

I think in this context, as with CPS/APS cases, it is assumed guilty until proven guilty

[shutterdrone]

Personally, especially considering her father is an attorney, I see this as nothing more than a deliberate attempt to utilize the Streisand Effect to their advantage.

On a more personal note, I think it's ludicrous that they talk all about how it's "harming her" to have guys gloat on her looks over the internet (what next, install monitors in locker rooms to make sure the high school boys don't talk about how good she looks?) when her father has made some of the most disparaging remarks about a female victim in a sex-crime case I've ever heard:

(I'll skip the juiciest stuff, but here's a perfectly apropos quote from her father)

“She got what she wanted,” said Stokke. “She’s an overtly sexual person.”

So... Other women are "asking for it", but his daughter's looks shouldn't even be mentioned?

!c

[dbphotos]

Here's the link to her images: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...0207&albumId=0

She's a pretty girl, but the most amazing things are her accomplishments as an athlete. She tried out in October of her 9th grade year and was an instant success. She's already had a knee injury so if she can avoid the injury she is well on her way to NCAA success and possibly Olympic success. She'll be interesting to watch as she competes.

Overall I think the photos are perfectly acceptable. As a pole vaulter, there could have been much more inappropriate photos. Being such a success she will have to expect a following and lots of images in the future. It a challenging but to be expected part of being a successful athlete.