Ex must pay Piper Peterson and her mom $55,500 for e-mailing group sex photos
Image by via Flickr
Last month, I wrote about the case of Piper Peterson and Michael Moldofsky:
During the course of their two year relationship, Moldofsky took photos of Peterson while she was “in various sexual acts with two other people,” according to a Kansas court order. It appears these were consensual group sex acts and consensual photos.
via Woman sues ex-boyfriend for sending sex photos to her family and co-workers – Not-So Private Parts
After they broke up, Moldofsky e-mailed the group sex photos to Peterson’s mom, ex-husband, ex-in laws, current boyfriend, boss, and coworkers. She and her mother sued Moldofsky for $75,000 for infliction of severe emotional distress and invasion of Piper Peterson’s privacy.
The case went to trial this month. The jury decided Friday that mass e-mailing sex photos is not cool.
One of Peterson’s lawyers, Brett Coonrod, wrote to me yesterday:
I wanted to let you know that last Friday, Nov 6, the jury awarded both the girlfriend and her mother actual and punitive damages for Mr. Moldofsky’s dissemination of the explicit photographs in question.
Coonrod wrote on his blog that the trial lasted a week, and that Peterson’s victory represents “a victory for the right to privacy in the digital age.”
Peterson and her mother had sued for $75,000. They were represented by Coonrod and Chris Lawson of the Lawson Law Office. Coonrod described their awards to me as a total of $55,500:
Plaintiff Piper Peterson received a verdict for actual damages of $18,000, which was nearly 3 times her medical bills for psychological counseling, and punitive damages of $25,000.00. Her mother received actual damages of $7,500.00 and punitive damages of $5,000.00. While not huge the damage award was significantly more than the $10,000 that had been offered before trial and was right in the range of what the plaintiffs would likely have accepted to settle the case prior to trial.
Peterson won her case and more than $40,000, but that can’t erase the embarrassment of her family and co-workers seeing her engaged in threesomes. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: sex tapes and photos are a bad idea.
But if you must document your exploits in the bedroom (or wherever you like to do your thing), lawyer Eric Goldman has some advice for you:
From a legal standpoint, it’s easy to offer some proactive suggestions for people creating a sex tape. One, don’t make a sex tape unless you can fully control it technologically (or you don’t mind if the tape becomes the most-downloaded video on the Internet). Of course, perfect technological control over digital bits may be impossible nowadays; for example, some of the celebrity sex tapes were allegedly leaked by computer repair personnel. Two, if you make a sex tape and don’t fully control it technologically, clearly delineate with the other party/parties the disposition of the sex tape in various circumstances, such as breakup. From a lawyer’s standpoint, a written contract would be nice.
Or just don’t make a sex tape.
And for those tempted to seek revenge by viralizing sex tapes/photos, be aware that the revenge might cost you $55k.
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As someone who’s clearly, and happily, a hopeless prude, why, why and why does anyone anywhere even feel like making a sex tape is a useful, intelligent or even amusing use of their time?!
Does seeing yourself over and over and over on some porno tape loop somehow reinforce or cement your self-esteem as a Sex Goddess? Get a grip, girls. Clearly, the men you’re shagging who like to…spread it around…have zero morals or ethics.
It isn’t that everyone is interested, it is that some people are. Lots of behaviors fall along a line, the edge of which is gray. For example would you send your boyfriend a suggestive PG-13 picture of yourself clothed but biting your lip and leaning forward to show your cleavage?
I think you are also making a whole basketful of assumptions about why people do this. Are you sure they watch it over and over? Are you more sure it is associated with low self esteem than acting prudishly (whatever that is) may itself be an expression of low self esteem? Are you sure that all or most people who do this have boyfriends who “like to spread it around”?
Also Goldman notes that some “celebrity” sex tapes are leaked by computer repair technicians. Maybe so, but he leaves out the most obvious and probable source for many/most: the celebrity themselves.
If the plaintiff is over 18 and under 50 years old they live in the modern technology world and should know that no digital or digitalizable record should be expected to be private. In that sense the indignation seems a bit much.
I do agree that the defendant appears to have been malicious, and I am not in disagreement with the verdict or award, but I find the commentary a bit much given that the sex act AND its filming were consensual.
In response to another comment. See in context »The amount of the settlement seems like a very small amount compared to the damage done by the dissemination of the pictures to family and friends. I guess this will put enough of a financial hardship on the perpetrator. What if more capable entities participate in this type of personal media disclosure? Is this the fee they have to pay to distribute unauthorized material to the masses? I think the penalty should have been much higher.
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I find this very ironic that I would have never known (or suspected) this about Piper if it hadn’t been for this story regarding privacy. Names shouldn’t have been included in the story as they are irrelevant to the privacy issues discussed and the fact they are included actually contradicts the privacy message being conveyed.