A Court Orders A Famous Sacco To Pay A Whooping Amount Of Money To A Woman For Using Her Photo To Market Sacco.
A Middle-aged woman is set to receive a whooping amount of money from a famous saving Sacco after court ordered the sacco to pay her for using her photo to market the sacco without her consent.
The Meru law court ordered the Sacco to pay 1.5 million Kenya shillings from using a photo she posted on Facebook for commercial benefits without her consent.
When Sharon Nyaga realised that the sacco had used her photo for marketing and promotion, she took legal action after receiving several calls from friends and family members informing her of the Sacco calendar which bears her name.
The sacco admits to have downloaded Sharon’s photo from Facebook which she took during her graduation and used it on their calendar.
The Sacco placed her photo on the first page of the calendar and alongside the photo was the Sacco’s promotion of a product where it marketed education loans.
The new graduate reached out to the financial institution, explaining to them that she was neither a member of the Sacco nor had her education been financed through the entity.
She sought financial compensation which was declined – necessitating the court case which started out at the Chief Magistrate’s court in Meru.
Justice Patrick Otieno threw out an appeal filed by the Sacco challenging an earlier ruling by the Chief Magistrate Court in Meru which ordered it to pay her Ksh1.5 million.
The High Court found that there was a financial benefit that the appellant expected to derive and reap from the publication, which Sacco admitted. The use of the photograph without deference to the plaintiff was evidently in violation of the respondent’s right to privacy and to be accorded her dignity under Articles 31(c) and 28 of the Constitution if Kenya.
On the same note in February 2019, a woman won Ksh1.5 in damages after a tea firm used her image on a marketing brochure without her consent. The presiding judge Justice Lucy Gitari,noted that the company had infringed on her privacy.
The law of Kenya does not have a definitive law on personality and image right but every person have a right to protect their “image” against unauthorised commercial use or exploitation by individuals or entities.
