Politics & Government

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."

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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?

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"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.

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