Man files $3 million lawsuit against Pornhub for using his selfie in an ad

In the era of the internet, it’s not at all uncommon to find your photos used by someone else without your permission. This happened to Edward Kelly of Marlton, New Jersey, who found his selfie used in an ad. On Pornhub. To make things even worse, it seems that the ad has been on the largest pornography website for at least six years. So, when discovering this, Kelly decided to file a lawsuit against Pornhub, seeking more than $3 million in damages and compensation for the use of his photo.

According to the Courier Post, a friend told Kelly that he spotted his photo in an ad on Pornhub. But at least the photo isn’t what you’d expect to see on a website like this. In the selfie, Kelly looks badass (sort of), wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates cap and holds a massive fan of $100 bills in front of his face. The ad reads “Make $752/day like me. See how I get it.”

After learning about the ad, Kelly filed a lawsuit against Mindgeek, the owner of Pornhub. The lawsuit states that Kelly took the photo and owns it, and he doesn’t know how it ended up in the ad on the porn website. “Someone on Pornhub’s advertising team found the photo… and decided to use it in an ad campaign without (Kelly’s) consent,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit also reads that people seeing the ad could reasonably believe that Kelly gave his consent to the use of his photo. As the Courier Post reports, he seeks more than $2 million for general compensatory damages and damages for emotional distress. He also demands more than $1 million in infringer’s profits.

Gizmodo got a statement from Pornhub’s vice president Corey Price. He clarified that Pornhub didn’t create the ad. He explained that “[their] banner ads are run through third party networks, on which advertisers directly place their content.”

Although this kind of copyright infringement is pretty common, I find the whole context quite weird. I believe it was really uncomfortable for Kelly to learn that his photo was used on a porn website, especially if it was there for years. Still, if Pornhub doesn’t create the ads, I think he should sue those responsible for creating it in the first place. But in any case, I say – sue away.

[via Gizmodo, the Courier Post]