The lawsuit submitted by Merion Station resident and Fox 29 Anchor Karen Hepp against Facebook and other internet companies has been thrown out by federal judge John Milton Younge, writes Victor Fiorillo for the Philadelphia Magazine.

In her complaint, Hepp stated she became aware that a photo of her taken inside a New York convenience store was being used online without her permission.

She learned that her photo had appeared in an ad on Facebook for a dating site, as well as in the pornographic sections on Imgur and Reddit, among other places.

In the suit, she tried to avail herself of a law known as “right of publicity” that states a business is not allowed to use the name or likeness of a person with clear commercial value for commercial purposes without permission.

However, since the images were being used not directly by the companies being sued but rather by third-party users, the judge ruled that immunity provided by the 1996 Communications Decency Act applied.

Hepp’s lawyer is planning to appeal the case in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Read more about the lawsuit at the Philadelphia Magazine by clicking here.

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