MrBobHouse Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Hi. I started working at an international school last March and a month in the school photographer came round taking photos of our class. A week later someone told me jokingly I was now 'famous' and to take a walk down the road. On the corner of a major intersection there was a 25ft high Billboard advertising the school with my face on it. I won't lie, I was a mix of flattered and pissed off, nobody had asked me if I wanted my.photo up there, but I was new to the school (and teaching) so I didn't want to kick up a fuss. It never really say well with me though. Anyway, I left the school in January due to let's say, not being happy with conditions there, and now work at another school not a million miles away. As I left before the end of my year contract they have said I am liable to pay back all holiday that I took as I was only entitled to 'enjoy' that on completion of the year contract (this was to get out of paying me my last months wages). That's not my gripe, my gripe is that they are still using my image to advertise the school and of course it may be a conflict of interest now considering I am at another school. Do I have any legal recourse? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post neeray Posted February 16, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 16, 2019 Know any good lawyers in Thailand? 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Dexlowe Posted February 16, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 16, 2019 You're up against moneyed Thais (I would think), so good luck. But you could try an alternative strategy and sue for defamation on the grounds that they were hurting your standing with your new employer. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post smutcakes Posted February 16, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 16, 2019 Glass is half full rather than empty, use it to your benefit rather than your detriment. I would enjoy my ugly mug in 25ft poster, no one else would but in a country like Thailand the opportunities with that are endless. Say your a model and some will believe. Obviously if you have a visa issue maybe best keep a low profile or grow a beard. Stand below it with a kiss for 100 baht. 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tlandtday Posted February 16, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 16, 2019 go paint a penis into the picture and let them take it down 7 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverpudlian Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 12 minutes ago, tlandtday said: go paint a penis into the picture and let them take it down That would make him a <deleted> ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBobHouse Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 1 hour ago, smutcakes said: Glass is half full rather than empty, use it to your benefit rather than your detriment. I would enjoy my ugly mug in 25ft poster, no one else would but in a country like Thailand the opportunities with that are endless. Say your a model and some will believe. Obviously if you have a visa issue maybe best keep a low profile or grow a beard. Stand below it with a kiss for 100 baht. Haha! If it was in Nana I'd be right up for that idea, but I'm in Pathum Thani, and let's just say I'd rather pay them 100 baht NOT to kiss me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MrBobHouse Posted February 16, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 16, 2019 1 hour ago, tlandtday said: go paint a penis into the picture and let them take it down This is actually the best idea. Haha! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Pravda Posted February 16, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 16, 2019 Use it as advertisement for private tutoring. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrenn Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 2 hours ago, tlandtday said: go paint a penis into the picture and let them take it down Brilliant 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enoon Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 (edited) It could earn you some money: Using someone’s image for commercial benefit Many countries recognize that individuals have a right of publicity. The right of publicity is the direct opposite of the right of privacy. It recognizes that a person’s image has economic value that is presumed to be the result of the person’s own effort and it gives to each person the right to exploit their own image. Under this right, you could be liable if you use a photograph of someone without their consent to gain some commercial benefit. If they are using your image for commercial benefit then the law in Thailand may require you to be compensated. Nice if it was backdated. But your contract may have given them permission. Edited February 16, 2019 by Enoon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhuh Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 A friend had exactly the same problem. He was up against a company listed on the SET. They took the pic down, but it took years. He didn't go through a lawyer but used informal contacts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geriatrickid Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Check your employment contract. You may have agreed to the use of your image to promote the school or to illustrate its staff. It could be buried in the fine print. The use of your photo without consent is illegal in Thailand and you do have recourse. Be sure to document the sign. Take multiple photos including wide angle. Keep a record of the date it was up. All it takes is a lawyer's letter arguing defamation and trade dress and you can drag this out for years and cost them. Doesn't matter if the school has money because it will eventually lose. On a positive note, these billboards don't last long due to environment. It should be gone in a few months. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamyai3 Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 5 hours ago, geriatrickid said: On a positive note, these billboards don't last long due to environment. It should be gone in a few months. True, though it wouldn't guarantee they didn't print up another one, or use it in other media. Depends on the contract drawn up between the school and the photographer. One way to look at it - if the op is a long term professional teacher, tack it onto the resume or bring it up casually in interviews etc. Image is a big part of recruitment in the EFL industry, and if they thought that image was good enough to use on a 21 foot poster it can't be a bad endorsement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstevens Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Yes, you absolutely do have recourse. Unless you signed a document explicitly providing permission for them to use your image then you could pursue a claim against them. And even if you did sign over rights for them to use your image, it would still be arguable in court if you were not suitably compensated for it. Have a think about what is most important to you. Do you want the image removed, or do you want to be compensated for it? If the former, an email / letter to the school from you should suffice. If the latter, you'll need a lawyer. In all seriousness, you could be looking at a decent pay day for this. The general rule would be what would it have cost the school to hire someone else for that. A standard i.e. not famous model's feel could be a few 10s of 1000s of baht.... If you tell them you want it taken down and they don't, you could make a criminal complaint and / or pursue civil damages against them. Basically, you have a lot of options. Think about what you want to do and then proceed accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post quandow Posted February 17, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted February 17, 2019 You're in Thailand, you are a foreigner. Here is a complete list of all your rights: 1. 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colabamumbai Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Welcome to Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puukao Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 if you got mad, there may be some underlying issues. like not liking the entire teaching situation. i get it. so if you get mad at your new school, maybe try another country. not being harsh, i get it. falangs get used all the time, but some farangs fight back in a diplomatic way. like going to the school everyday and politely asking for money for the sign. maybe 10,000. just be very careful in what you say. If their English is horrible...."Sign, very pretty. Me. 10,000 baht. I want. No work here. I no say OK." lol. all i can say is, unfortunately, you might be getting mad at something else pretty soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAKAPALITA Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Id be lived, now everyone knows im useless.????[emoji481]Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstevens Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 On 2/17/2019 at 1:13 PM, quandow said: You're in Thailand, you are a foreigner. Here is a complete list of all your rights: 1. Utterly misleading advice. Plenty of times foreigners have taken action against Thais in Thailand and won. Please don't reinforce this falsehood of foreigners having no rights when it's untrue. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berkshire Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 On 2/17/2019 at 12:25 AM, uhuh said: A friend had exactly the same problem. He was up against a company listed on the SET. They took the pic down, but it took years. He didn't go through a lawyer but used informal contacts. Did your friend work for the company? The OP was working for the school at the time, so there wasn't any sort of fraudulent marketing scheme. I see photos for schools all the time and they typically include students as well as teachers. I doubt that every person in these photos were required to provide written consent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMoreFarang Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Maybe it's simple and just tell them you don't want your picture published. And you should have told them long time ago. It seems many Thais are happy to be in pictures, on TV, all over the internet, etc. I think for many of them it's difficult to comprehend how anybody does not want to be "famous" like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyL Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Becus you velly hansum man. Is this a 'real' international school, or some cowboy outfit? If it is the former, I would have thought you can easily ask them to remove yourself from their advertising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nahkit Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 (edited) On 2/17/2019 at 12:52 AM, geriatrickid said: Check your employment contract. You may have agreed to the use of your image to promote the school or to illustrate its staff. It could be buried in the fine print. Good point but wouldn't the agreement for the image to be used be terminated when the employment contract with the school was terminated? Edited February 18, 2019 by nahkit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neeray Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said: Maybe it's simple and just tell them you don't want your picture published. And you should have told them long time ago. It seems many Thais are happy to be in pictures, on TV, all over the internet, etc. I think for many of them it's difficult to comprehend how anybody does not want to be "famous" like that. Are you describing a certain army general ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMoreFarang Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 13 minutes ago, neeray said: Are you describing a certain army general ? No, just my day to day experience with "normal" Thais. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
how241 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 If you signed some papers when you started you, you might have given them the rights to use you image in school promotions. Careful re-read any papers you signed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quandow Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 18 hours ago, mstevens said: Utterly misleading advice. Plenty of times foreigners have taken action against Thais in Thailand and won. Please don't reinforce this falsehood of foreigners having no rights when it's untrue. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FritsSikkink Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 On 2/17/2019 at 12:52 AM, geriatrickid said: Check your employment contract. You may have agreed to the use of your image to promote the school or to illustrate its staff. It could be buried in the fine print. The use of your photo without consent is illegal in Thailand and you do have recourse. Be sure to document the sign. Take multiple photos including wide angle. Keep a record of the date it was up. All it takes is a lawyer's letter arguing defamation and trade dress and you can drag this out for years and cost them. Doesn't matter if the school has money because it will eventually lose. On a positive note, these billboards don't last long due to environment. It should be gone in a few months. "you can drag this out for years and cost them." It will cost him too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwpage3 Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 What recourse does a person on a limited income (teacher) have to take on a school owner who probably has lots of students whose parents are politicians and cops? The answer is go quietly! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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