A group of Vietnam veterans opposed to John Kerry's presidential campaign demand Kerry remove a photograph that appears in one of his television advertisements. CNN reports:
I don't think the kerry campaign faces a serious legal problem here. This is just politics.In Tuesday's "cease and desist" letter, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth called on Kerry's campaign to stop what it said was the unauthorized use of the images of some of them in a 60-second biographical spot titled "Lifetime." The ad began running nationwide in early May.
The U.S. Navy photo in question depicts 20 officers, including Kerry, and was taken January 22, 1969, on the island of An Thoi in Vietnam. The ad shows only a portion of the picture -- not all of the men are visible -- and is displayed for two seconds.
But even the men who are not in the ad have a right to demand the picture not be used, said Alvin A. Horne, a Houston attorney who served on a swift boat in Vietnam in 1969-1970. He is giving legal advice to the group. Eleven of the 20 men in the picture oppose their images being used in the campaign ad, he said.
"The use of the 11 images in this political campaign wrongfully and incorrectly suggests their present endorsement of his candidacy for president of the United States of America," said the letter, which Horne wrote.
[. . .]
The letter, sent to campaign general counsel Marc Elias, says the campaign neither sought nor obtained consent from the fellow veterans to use their images in the ad. It asked them to stop using the picture within 10 days.
UPDATE: Eugene Volokh, of The Volokh Conspiracy offers a short legal analysis of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth threat to sue over the Kerry Campaign's use of the picture. After stating the Veterans don't have a good legal case, Volokh posts that "as a political matter, the veterans' objection might well be powerful and effective, either at getting the Kerry campaign to change the ad, or more broadly at hurting the Kerry campaign politically."
I like it law professors agree with me.
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