New Jersey Court Allows Mother To Sue Over Breastfeeding Video

U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden has allowed a New Jersey mother’s lawsuit against Meredith Video Studios for fraud & negligence in the production of an instructional video for breastfeeding from 2010 to go forward, NJ criminal attorneys report

New Jersey (I-Newswire) September 4, 2012 - MaryAnn Sahoury, of Fair Lawn, New Jersey, appeared in “Breastfeeding Help,” a video intended to instruct new mothers on breastfeeding techniques. Sahoury claims that she was told that the producer would not reveal her full name or that of her daughter, and that the images would be available only on Parent.tv and Meredith Video’s website. She signed a release at the time of the taping without reading it through, assuming that it reflected the verbal communication, and found her images used on YouTube and porn websites several months later.

In the ensuing case, M.S. v. Meredith Corporation, Meredith Video Studios and its parent, Meredith Video, claim that the release Sahoury signed consented to the use of her name and the footage from the video. When Sahoury alerted Meredith Video that porn sites were using her image, the company offered to hire Reputation.com to beat back the distasteful links from Google’s first results pages and contacted YouTube to remove the video. Since then, similar videos have appeared on the site and around the Web, and Sahoury has included the lasting harm this may do to her daughter’s reputation in her suit.

Although Sahoury tried to include in her suit a charge against Meredith Video Studios and Meredith Video for invasion of privacy, the judge denied that claim. According to New Jersey criminal attorneys, Sahoury failed to prove that the video was uploaded to YouTube for solely for commercial purposes, which is a prerequisite for an invasion of privacy count. The suit also includes charges for negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract and emotional distress.

The New Jersey criminal lawyers at Helmer, Paul, Conley, & Kasselman will be following Sahoury’s suit as New Jersey law attempts to handle the growing problem of viral media content on the Internet. If you have been charged with a crime, contact one of our New Jersey criminal attorneys at 877-HELMER1 for a free consultation.

Helmer, Paul, Conley, and Kasselman, P.A.

www.helmerlegal.com