Rogers v. Justmugshots.com CA2/8

BACKGROUND

According to plaintiff’s complaint, defendant operates two Web sites— www.justmugshots.com and mugshots.mobi—on which it posts public record booking photographs and/or names of individuals who have been arrested and charges a fee of $199 to remove them. It also derives revenue from paid advertising that incorporates the names of the individuals. It posts the photographs within hours of the individuals’ arrests and without regard to their guilt. It also inflates search engine results to ensure its Web sites would be a top result in a search for the individual’s name. Even after an individual has paid to have a photograph removed, defendant posts additional photographs of the same individual to obtain additional payments. Plaintiff alleged these acts constituted misappropriation of likeness in violation of Civil Code section 3344 because defendant used the names and photographs “for

SLAPP stands for strategic lawsuit against public participation.

2 purposes of selling the service of removing the photographs and names of the Plaintiff and Class, and for the purpose of profiting from advertising directly connected with the name and photograph of the Plaintiff and…