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<P>As this discussion has shown, there are some difficult legal and ethical issues. If a person can be identified in a photograph, then permission should be obtained from that person before publishing it. When talking about a person in writing, there is an immense question of what constitutes permission, and the range of court opinions is vast. Most writers agree that few characters in fiction are drawn from imagination alone, and in non-fiction it is frequently necessary to quote or cite real people. The general rule that many professional writers use when they have not obtained permission from the subject is "does the description, citation or quotation constitute libel?" Under US law, it is fairly difficult to contest publication of anything in writing unless it is libel, and proof of libel is difficult. I understand that under UK law (and perhaps that of places like Canada and Australia) proof of libel is easier, but libe!
l requires some form of harm to the person named or otherwise identified. And what constitutes publication has become a murky area what with the internet and websites.</P>
<P>Ethically, however, the issue would seem to be a little less complex. Asking permission should be the norm whenever a person can readily be identified by others in a writing or a photograph. When only the writer (photographer) and the subject him (her) self can identify the source (subject) and no harm is done to that source (subject) by publication, then publication is allowed. If the person can be identified, then permission should be obtained before publication. Of course, what constitutes harm is itself a most difficul topic. </P>
<P>The short answer, then, is ask permission before publishing anything. When it is impossible to obtain permission, make certain that the person who is the source or subject cannot be identified and is unlikely to unambigiously identify him(her)self.</P>
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<P>E. O. Pederson</P></DIV>
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<DIV>Seattle, WA</DIV>
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