Virgin Mobile Sued Over Flickr Photo

Alison Chang became a star of a Virgin Mobile Australia ad but she says she had no idea her photo was going to be used. Now her parents are suing the company for causing their daughter "grief and humiliation."

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The Texas teen posted her picture on photo sharing service Flickr. Virgin Mobile licensed it under a Creative Commons license that allow photos to be used for commercial purposes. The question that is raised becomes getting the person in the photo's permission.

More on the Virgin Mobile Ad:

The ad shows the teen smiling and giving the peace sign. In big bold text are the words, "Dump your pen friend." At the bottom you see the words, "Free text virgin to virgin." The photo attribution is the link to Chang's page on Flickr.

Virgin Mobile Australia is also using other Flickr photos in its ad campaign. The ad campaign has been using Flickr photos for about three months now.