Unauthorized Leakage of Female Body Profile Photos... Court Orders "Pay Damages"

Daegu District Court Orders Payment of 2 Million Won to Victimized Woman

A photographer who leaked body profile photos of a private woman in underwear without permission has been ordered to compensate the victim.

On the 19th, the 3-3 Civil Division of Daegu District Court (Presiding Judge Son Yoon-kyung) announced a partial ruling in favor of plaintiff A in a damages lawsuit filed against defendant B, who operates a photo studio, ordering B to pay 2 million won.

In April 2020, A was introduced to body profile photographer B by C, a health trainer. A signed a contract with B for body profile photo shooting and paid a deposit. In July of the same year, B took A’s body profile photos at a studio in Nam-gu, Daegu, then sent all the photos to A via KakaoTalk message, asking A to select 8 photos for retouching and to pay the remaining balance.

A did not respond nor pay the remaining balance. B arbitrarily retouched two photos of A in underwear from the body profile photos and sent them to A and C. Upon receiving them, A sent a contract termination message to B, stating, "I couldn’t decide until last night, so I couldn’t tell you whether I would proceed or not," and "Since it doesn’t match the concept I wanted, I will not proceed with retouching." B promised A that the photos taken would be discarded.

However, C uploaded A’s photos twice on their business promotion blog. A later discovered that these photos had been provided by B without permission. A was deeply shocked by the unauthorized leak of her photos and sought psychiatric treatment and counseling.

Ultimately, A filed a criminal complaint against B and also filed a civil lawsuit demanding 3 million won in damages from B.

The court pointed out, "A body profile photographer who specializes in photographing exposed bodies of others has a strict duty of care in managing the photos taken." Considering that A was a private individual, not a professional model, and was in underwear, as well as the poses, the court judged that others viewing the photos could cause sexual shame. Furthermore, B did not obtain prior permission from A to send the photos to C, nor did B inform A after sending the photos, which was also a basis for the judgment.

The court continued, "It is clear that the plaintiff suffered mental distress due to the illegal act, so the defendant has an obligation to compensate for the plaintiff’s mental suffering in monetary terms." Considering the extent of A’s body exposure and the number of photos, the amount was set at 2 million won.

Meanwhile, C, who uploaded A’s photos on the blog without permission, received a suspended indictment for the charge of distributing photos of a person’s body that could induce sexual desire or shame against their will (violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.