Private photo use on the internet 2

Moral rights and data protection

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The legal tip from our lawyer Dr. Christian Cloos deals with the legal aspects of private photo use on the internet, with a special focus on moral rights and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

• Moral rights: Moral rights include, for example, the photographer's right to be named. In addition, the photographer can prevent his photo from being used in a deceptive context. All of this can lead to an increase in damages.
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Photos of people are considered personal data. Effective consent for use must be voluntary and informed. Violations of the GDPR may accompany the violations of the Art Copyright Act here.
• Exceptions and privileges: The GDPR does not apply to purely private or family photo uses without commercial purpose. However, publication on publicly accessible social media accounts crosses these privileges, as the Frankfurt District Court has ruled.

The statements represent initial information that was current for the law applicable in Germany at the time of initial publication. The legal situation may have changed since then. Furthermore, the information provided cannot replace individual advice on a specific matter. Please contact us for this purpose.