Suit Over Using Teen's Image in 'Girls Gone Wild' Video Heads to GA Supreme Court
Cartersville resident Lindsey Boyd was 14 years old in an image that appeared on a DVD cover and national commercials.
CORRECTION: The defendants in this complaint have been correctly identified in this version of the article.
The Georgia Supreme Court will need to answer questions about state law in a Cartersville woman's suit seeking damages against two companies she claims are responsible for images taken of her when she was 14 being used in a Girls Gone Wild video.
She sued MRA Holding and MANTRA Films in federal court over that video. Chief U.S District Judge Julie E. Carnes said in an order on Sept. 27 that resolution on the defendants' motion for summary judgment "depends on unsettled questions of Georgia law."
Lindsey Boyd, a Marietta native and local mom-to-be, was 14 years old when men in Florida videotaped her topless, then sold the footage to Girls Gone Wild, according to Business Insider. Her image appeared on the DVD cover of Girls Gone Wild, College Girls Exposed, Vol. 1 and 2 and in TV commercials aired across the country.
Georgia Supreme Court justices now have been asked to weigh in on Boyd's 2004 federal lawsuit, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A U.S. District judge's certified question to the justices: Can a 14-year-old girl consent to be videotaped, then distributed for commercial purposes?
"Unfortunately, the very scant Georgia law on this subject provides no clear answer as to whether [Boyd] has a viable claim," Judge Carnes wrote in her order certifying questions to the state Supreme Court.
Boyd said a "stupid decision" has followed her throughout life, including three high school changes due to harassment and bullying, WSB-TV reports. She said in the lawsuit she became known as a "porn star" at school, according to BI.
State law does not protect young girls who believe they are victimized by Girls Gone Wild, according to Boyd, WSB-TV reports.
"It seems like a simple case: 14-year-old girl exploited over a video. It seems wrong to me but there are just no laws against it," she told the station.
A St. Louis-area woman who didn't consent to the filming of topless images that later appeared in Girls Gone Wild was awarded nearly $6 million, but filmmakers have asked the verdict be overturned, the Associated Press reported. Dozens of other woman also have lodged complaints against Girls Gone Wild.
Jerri Wood
7:46 pm on Thursday, October 4, 2012
People Can Sue For Anything Now Come On It Was Funny When She Did It While On Vacation Now She Got Caught Now She Want To Sue Get A Job Lindsey Stop Looking For Easy MONEY Im Sure Your Other Friends Did It To Are They Suening To
Tina Edwards
5:37 pm on Monday, October 8, 2012
Jerri she was 14! Can you say CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. She has been fighting this for 8 years, you can't call that EASY MONEY.
Lynn Hubbard
8:43 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
This screams of child endangerment/pornography. You are not legally allowed to give any kind of consent at 14. I hope she gets every last dime.
Jeff Carson
12:04 pm on Monday, October 8, 2012
Children should know better. But that is dependent upon having good parents. Clearly she does not. But either way, no kid deserves to be condemned for doing such things. I think she's learned her lesson. But an example needs to be made out of GGW creator. He needs to lose everything he has and become poor. Throwing him in prison for awhile might also teach him a lesson. There isn't enough tough law in America. So far, Hitler looks like a hero when you consider just how much of a fiasco our justice system has become. This country is getting worse every year.
Ronda Stutts
4:45 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
It was not the GGW creator that took the pics, he purchased them from an independent photographer. It's in no way his fault this little slut wanted the attention and shoed her boobs to any guy that would give her some beads! She is just mad that she did not get rich off of her boobs! Now that they are sagging, she knows she doesn't have any other chance to make money from them!
James
9:50 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
She showed her boobs at 14. She wasnt worried about it then! She cant blame the GGW guys for taping it. SHE SHOWED HER OWN BOOBS! She was in the wrong. I have a daughter and if she would have done that she would have been punished. But im a better parent. She shouldnt get a penny. It was her own fault. Females now days wanna blame everyone else but wont take responsibility for their own actions. Noone forced her to flash her boobs. Its her own fault. And the prison comment; you are an idiot. She flashed her boobs. GGW didnt force her. GGW doesnt need 2 lose anything because they were not in the wrong. What was she doing at spring break at 14 anyway. Parents of Lindsey and Lindsey herself are the ONLY ones at fault!