Perhaps we need a sort of clearing house website for lewd images and texts.

[MineralMan]

Some men, including some prominent public figures, seem to have great opinions of their genitals. So much so that they send photos of them to people who didn't ask for them. They are unsolicited gifts.

Now, if someone sends you a gift of any kind, that gift becomes your property, to do with as you please.

So, I propose a website, perhaps called celebrityjunk.com, where recipients of such gifts could send those gifts for publication. The images and texts could appear under the heading: Gifts from {celebrity's name} and be available for public viewing by anyone interested in seeing such displays.

Since the images or other things were sent voluntarily to their recipients, who now own them, I do not see how the original sender could legally object to the new owners' publication of them with credit to the original sender.

I like this idea. I hope someone creates such a website. It would be a great source of information on many people.

[jberryhill]

1. I do not see how the original sender could legally object

Then you don't understand copyright.

[rusty fender]

5. An email/pic sent to someone else

is automatically copyrighted

[jberryhill]

7. Any photograph, written work, etc. is automatically copyrighted, yes

Whether one can obtain statutory damages and some other procedural advantages can be gained by registration, but copyright has been automatic since the Berne Convention.

[rusty fender]

8. Wow

Be careful whose dick you expose

[MineralMan]

6. Oh, I do understand copyright quite well.

The interesting thing is that for someone to claim copyright and ownership of that copyright, they'd have to attest to the fact that they created the image or words in question and show evidence of that.

"That is my photograph of my penis, which I took with my cell phone and sent to that person who has posted it on the Internet. It is my image. I created it and sent it to that person."

That raises some interesting questions, does it not? I don't think copyright is really the issue here. And, as I suggested in another reply, the recipient could post the image or text as a screen shot from the device on which it was received, showing the sender's name. I see not legal reason why such should not be done, really.

Did Anthony Weiner file a lawsuit against anyone for using the images of his junk? He did not. Nor will he.

[jberryhill]

9. Celebrities do this all of the time with leaked selfies

Newsworthiness may play into a fair use consideration, but "Did Anthony Weiner file a lawsuit" is neither an answer nor any sort of legal analysis of whether one can enjoin the publication of a photograph which you took.

"I see not legal reason why such should not be done, really."

It doesn't matter if it is published as a screenshot of the picture either.

Again, if you can't see a legal reason why one should not publish photographs taken by another, you don't know what you are talking about. Copyright law can, and has been, used to enjoin unauthorized publication of selfies.

http://cmmllp.com/copyright-protection-selfies-can-help-prevent-unauthorized-reproduction-distribution/

I have represented persons in DMCA take-downs of selfies published on so-called "revenge porn" sites. Perhaps you are unaware that the unauthorized publication of nude selfies is a serious issue and that, in addition to the copyright cause of action, a growing number of states are making it illegal to publish nude photos of other people without their consent, even in circumstances where the photograph was voluntarily taken and transmitted to the defendant.

You are, literally, advocating an action which is a crime in several states, including Minnesota: Minn. Stat. § 617.261.

[flying_wahini]

2. A wonderful idea but then wiener pictures could be denied by the wiener owner.

Like the general idea though; it might put a stop to that.

[MineralMan]

4. Well, a person could post, you know, screen shots showing

the identity of the sender, as in a Tweet or text message.

[JHB]

3. MyWiener.com?

Of course, it would be hosted on a Russian server.

[jberryhill]

10. For anyone who thinks this is a good idea....

You might want to check your state's laws on unauthorized dissemination of intimate images of others:

https://www.cybercivilrights.org/revenge-porn-laws/

This proposal is an invitation to what is commonly called "revenge porn".

Men, and women, share intimate selfies. Whether they should, etc., is really not the point.

The proposal here is "send us nude pictures of prominent people and we'll publish them". As the operator of such a site, one would have no way whatsoever of knowing whether the photographic material received was taken in the course of a consensual relationship subsequently gone sour or from criminal hacking of someone's phone. Inevitably, that will indeed be precisely what happens (as was the case in that brain-bleach-inducing recent episode involving a Congressional representative).

You would be exposing yourself to criminal liability in addition to various civil causes of action to operate such a site.

Oh, oh, I know... you'll only publish the ones that were unsolicited or unwanted, and you will use your magic brain-beam reader to determine the circumstances under which the picture was obtained, right? Yah, sure.