An Ohio TV news anchor has won a lawsuit against Hustler over publication of a photo showing her dancing naked in a wet T-shirt contest.
The Cincinnati court rejected the pornography publisher’s appeal to overturn a 2010 jury verdict that awarded Catherine Bosley $135,000 in damages.
It dismissed Hustler’s argument that its use of the image was protected under the First Amendment.
Bosley, then 37 and a news anchor for a CBS television affiliate in Ohio, was competing in a wet T-shirt contest while on vacation in Florida in 2003 when an amateur photographer snapped pictures of her without her knowledge.
She resigned from her job after the images surfaced and quickly circulated on the Internet.
Bosley and her husband negotiated with the photographer for rights to the photos, which they registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2004.
Two years later, Hustler published one of the revealing photos in its ‘Hot News Babes’ series, and Bosley sued.
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In 2010, a jury awarded Bosley $135,000 for copyright infringement as well as attorney’s fees.
On appeal, Hustler and its parent company, Larry Flynt Publications, argued that they had relied on their lawyer’s advice that they could publish the image under the so-called ‘fair use’ exception in copyright law that covers news reporting, criticism and commentary.
But a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit rejected the argument, finding that Hustler’s primary motivation was to make money off the image.
‘The jury could have reasonably concluded that Hustler was selling a picture, not a story,’ Judge Eric Clay wrote for the panel.
Timothy Murphy, a lawyer for Hustler, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Catherine Bosley’s lawyer, Andrew Kabat, welcomed the decision and praised his client for pursuing the years-long legal fight.
Bosley ‘is proud that she did not back down in the face of the corporate juggernaut created by Larry Flynt Publications,’ said Kabat.
45-year-old Bosley is now a news anchor for WOIO Channel 19, a CBS affiliate in Cleveland. It’s unclear if Hustler Inc. will appeal the decision.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2189841/News-anchor-wins-legal-battle-Hustler-porn-magazine-published-photo-dancing-wet-t-shirt-competition.html
