Chang v Virgin Mobile and Creative Commons

Background information

Virgin Mobile, an Australian mobile device company, used a Flickr photo of a minor licensed under a CC BY 2.0 license as part of an advertising campaign it launched in 2007. 
The plaintiff alleged that Virgin violated the attribution requirements of the license, and that CC had not sufficiently warned licensors that publicity rights were not included under the license.


Case summary

In September of 2007, the plaintiffs brought suit in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas against the mobile company under a number of causes of action, including invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, and breach of contract. They also made a claim against Creative Commons alleging that Creative Commons had failed to sufficiently warn creators that the do not cover privacy and publicity rights. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed Creative Commons from the lawsuit in November 2007. In January 2009, the federal district court in Texas dismissed the case against the mobile company for lack of personal jurisdiction.


Attribution Photograph