Woman sues Getty over photo in HIV advert

An Irish woman is taking legal action against a major stock photo company after she found her image splashed across ads in city newspapers as a poster child for the rights of HIV-positive people.

Avril Nolan, aged 25, a Dublin City University graduate, is now living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and works in public relations according to the New York Daily News. She does not have HIV or Aids.

Ms Nolan is suing Getty Images for $450,000 (€608,486) in Manhattan Supreme Court, accusing the agency of improperly allowing her image to be used in the ads.

Her lawsuit says the ad has hurt her personal and professional relationships and caused her emotional distress.

She only became aware of the poster when she was alerted by a friend and her Pilates exercise instructor.

Her image was used in a quarter-page colour ad that ran in the free AM New York newspaper on Apr 3. Next to her face were the words, “I am positive (+)” and “I have rights.” The ad was paid for by the state Division of Human Rights.

She originally did the shoot with a photographer friend, Jena Cumbo, as part of an online fashion feature two years ago.

She is claiming Getty Images sold her image to New York State without her permission.

She said Ms Cumbo, “had no written release or authorisation” to use or sell her image.

“Upon learning of the publication, [Ms Nolan] became instantly upset and apprehensive that her relatives, potential romantic partners, clients, as well as bosses and supervisors might have seen the advertisement,” she says in court papers.

Ms Nolan was not in a committed relationship at the time, her lawyer Erin Lloyd, said.

“Feeling humiliated and embarrassed, [Ms Nolan] was forced to confess to her bosses that her image had been used in an advertisement for HIV services, implying that she was infected with HIV, in a newspaper often used by her own clients for advertising and that is distributed to tens of thousands of New Yorkers every day.”

The suit maintains Getty Images “never requested proof that [Ms Nolan] had executed a legally enforceable and binding written model release”.

Ms Cumbo told the New York Post: “I have been nothing but apologetic about how this happened. I never intended for her picture to be used in this way.”

Mr Lloyd said the ad’s publication was a violation of privacy that breaks state law requiring signed releases for commercial images.

A Getty spokeswoman declined to comment.