Civil Rights Law 52-b unlawful dissemination of an intimate image
Civil Rights Law 52-b, New York State’s Revenge Porn Law
Victims of revenge porn in New York are protected by Civil Rights Law 52-b, unlawful dissemination of an intimate image. The law allows individuals living in New York City, Westchester, Long Island, Rockland, and the entire state the ability to sue a culprit for damages.
New York’s Statute of Limitations for Revenge Porn
A victim of revenge porn in New York has three years after the naked videos and images are shared to file a lawsuit. However, if the culprit hides the fact that they have shared a sex tape, the victim has an additional one year to sue from the date they learn about the dissemination - whichever of the two dates is later. Civil Rights Law 52-b provides a victim with a significantly longer period of time to sue than other causes of action. Prior to the law being passed, a victim only had one year to sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Images and Videos Covered Under New York State’s Revenge Porn Law
Like the New York City law, if an image shows a victim’s intimate part then it is covered under the law. Additionally, videos and images that are taken during or immediately after a sexual act cannot be shared.
New York’s Revenge Porn Law Allows You to Sue Websites for Information
A unique aspect of Civil Rights Law 52-b is the ability to sue websites all over the world for information. If Pornhub, xHamster, Tumblr, Google, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or any other company is displaying your naked pictures, the websites can be brought into court in New York. This is a very powerful tool if a victim is unaware of who is sharing the videos or images.
A Perpetrator Must Have Bad Intentions
A perpetrator must share the images or videos in order to harass, annoy, or alarm the victim. The perpetrator does not actually need to release the videos; a threat is enough to sue him or her under the law. What does it mean to alarm a victim? Normally a victim is alarmed if they are scared by the culprit’s actions. If an ex-spouse threatens to share a victim’s naked images and the victim is legitimately worried he or she will follow through and share the images, that is enough to be alarmed under the law.
Damages under Civil Rights Law 52-b
A victim is able to recover different types of damages in a lawsuit. A victim can recover any out of pocket expenses. Even if a victim has no actual damages, a victim can receive punitive damages from the culprit. The perpetrator can also be responsible for paying the victim’s attorney fees. The court can issue an order preventing the abuser from sharing the images or videos with any other person.
The Entire Text of Civil Rights Law Section 52-b, Private Right of Action for Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image
§ 52-b. Private right of action for unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image. 1. Any person depicted in a still or video image, regardless of whether or not the original still or video image was consensually obtained, shall have a cause of action against an individual who, for the purpose of harassing, annoying or alarming such person, disseminated or published, or threatened to disseminate or publish, such still or video image, where such image:
a. was taken when such person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private; and
b. depicts (i) an unclothed or exposed intimate part of such person; or (ii) such person engaging in sexual conduct, as defined in subdivision ten of section 130.00 of the penal law, with another person; and
c. was disseminated or published, or threatened to be disseminated or published, without the consent of such person.
2. In any action commenced pursuant to subdivision one of this section, the finder of fact, in its discretion, may award injunctive relief, punitive damages, compensatory damages and reasonable court costs and attorney's fees.
3. This section shall not apply to the following:
a. the reporting of unlawful conduct;
b. dissemination or publication of an intimate still or video image made during lawful and common practices of law enforcement, legal proceedings or medical treatment;
c. images involving voluntary exposure in a public or commercial setting; or
d. dissemination or publication of an intimate still or video image made for a legitimate public purpose.
4. Any person depicted in a still or video image that depicts an unclothed or exposed intimate part of such person, or such person engaging in sexual conduct as defined in subdivision ten of section 130.00 of the penal law with another person, which is disseminated or published without the consent of such person and where such person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private, may maintain an action or special proceeding for a court order to require any website that is subject to personal jurisdiction under subdivision five of this section to permanently remove such still or video image; any such court order granted pursuant to this subdivision may direct removal only as to images that are reasonably within such website's control.
5.
a. Any website that hosts or transmits a still or video image, viewable in this state, taken under circumstances where the person depicted had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private, which depicts:
(i) an unclothed or exposed intimate part, as defined in section 245.15 of the penal law, of a resident of this state; or
(ii) a resident of this state engaging in sexual conduct as defined in subdivision ten of section 130.00 of the penal law with another person; and
b. Such still or video image is hosted or transmitted without the consent of such resident of this state, shall be subject to personal jurisdiction in a civil action in this state to the maximum extent permitted under the United States constitution and federal law.
6. A cause of action or special proceeding under this section shall be commenced the later of either:
a. three years after the dissemination or publication of an image; or
b. one year from the date a person discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the dissemination or publication of such image.
7. Nothing herein shall be read to require a prior criminal complaint, prosecution or conviction to establish the elements of the cause of action provided for by this section.
8. The provisions of this section are in addition to, but shall not supersede, any other rights or remedies available in law or equity.
9. If any provision of this section or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this section which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this section are severable.
10. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, or to enlarge, the protections that 47 U.S.C § 230 confers on an interactive computer service for content provided by another information content provider, as such terms are defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230.
Source: New York State Senate