*nws*France's first lady wins damages over nude bags

[Avatard]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28292431/

SAINT-DENIS, Reunion - A French court has ordered a clothing firm to pay 40,000 euros ($56,200) in damages for distributing bags bearing a nude image of France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

The photo dates from Bruni-Sarkozy's modeling days. She was seeking 125,000 euros in damages from clothing vendor Pardon, which distributed the bags to its clients.

"The unauthorized use of the image of Carla Bruni caused her moral and economic damage," the court said on Thursday.

Pardon said it will appeal Thursday's ruling, handed down by a court on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where the company is based. The firm also is promising to destroy the 5,500 Bruni bags it has left.

The founder and manager of the Pardon chain, Peter Mertes, said 40,000 euros seemed expensive to him for "a small blunder."

Bruni-Sarkozy, 40, rose to fame as a model before becoming a successful pop singer. Public interest in her has surged since her whirlwind romance with President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she married in February less than three months after they met.

The nude image printed on the Pardon bags was in the news earlier in the year, when an original black-and-white print of the Michel Comte photo fetched $91,000 at auction in New York.

It shows the young Bruni-Sarkozy standing in a pigeon-toed pose, covering her private parts with her hands.

Bruni-Sarkozy's lawyers have said that she would donate any damages to charity.

[RACER X]

pics or fail.

[Avatard]

Originally Posted by RACER X

pics or fail.

Your hand broken? Forget about this thing called Google?

[JoJoYZF]

May wanna put in a NSFW, especially with it being a thursday morning.

[smileyman]

Yup NSFW! Nipple showing and everything

Really though, who takes nude pictures and thinks they won't get seen? I know it was more a copyright infringment thing "use without consent or consideration for profit" but she shouldn't be suprised.

As for the photo well she is French!

[fnfalman]

Why does a chickenshit Frenchie president get hooked up with a hot ass supermodel while American presidents...

At least McCain had a decent looking wife WITH A RICH DOWRY. Too bad he ain't president.

[CrazyKell]

Originally Posted by smileyman

Yup NSFW! Nipple showing and everything

Really though, who takes nude pictures and thinks they won't get seen? I know it was more a copyright infringment thing "use without consent or consideration for profit" but she shouldn't be suprised.

As for the photo well she is French!

I'm sure she's not upset about anyone seeing her nude. At least I didn't get that from the article.

It's a copyright issue. Who uses an image without consent and then calls it "a small blunder"?

[Papa_Complex]

Originally Posted by smileyman

Yup NSFW! Nipple showing and everything

Really though, who takes nude pictures and thinks they won't get seen? I know it was more a copyright infringment thing "use without consent or consideration for profit" but she shouldn't be suprised.

As for the photo well she is French!

I doubt that she was surprised. A French supermodel surprised at having her pictures seen? You've got to be kidding!

As you said, it's a different issue. Rather than one of copyright, it's one of copyright AND release. More than likely only contracted for specific use of that image and was compensated for just that. If the photographer went outside of the four corners of the model release, or if it was illegally obtained and used, then it's a just and righteous payday for her. The damages could have been MUCH higher; likely should have been, at the level that she was working at the time.