According to reports, on the morning of March 26th, the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court held a public hearing in the second instance on the case of Taiwan Province famous female artist Lin Chi-ling v. a medical beauty company for infringement of portrait rights, and upheld the first-instance judgment that a medical beauty company constituted infringement, and compensated Lin Chi-ling for economic losses of 60,000 yuan and mental damages of 20,000 yuan, totaling more than 80,000 yuan.

Lin Chi-ling: suing the medical beauty company.

I learned from No.1 Intermediate People's Court that Lin Chi-ling is a famous female artist in Taiwan Province Province. Recently, she found that a medical beauty company posted an article about Lin Chi-ling on its WeChat WeChat official account, promoting plastic surgery services, describing her appearance and figure, and attaching some personal photos of Lin Chi-ling.

Lin Chi-ling believes that the company uses its personal photos as illustrations without permission, implying that it accepts related plastic surgery services, trying to enhance the company's popularity and attract customers through itself, which seriously infringes on its right to portrait and reputation. She then filed a lawsuit with the court, demanding that the company be ordered to apologize to Lin Chi-ling in national public newspapers and compensate for economic losses and mental damages of more than 220,000 yuan.

The court of first instance found that a medical beauty company infringed on Lin Mouling's portrait right and Lin Chi-ling's reputation right, but it was not established. Considering that the infringement is minor, Lin Chi-ling's request for a medical beauty company to apologize in a national public newspaper is not supported.

According to the popularity of Lin Chi-ling, the fault degree of a medical beauty company, the circumstances of infringement and other factors, the court ruled that a medical beauty company compensated Lin Chi-ling for economic losses of 60,000 yuan and mental damages of 20,000 yuan, totaling more than 80,000 yuan.

A medical beauty company refused to accept the appeal and appealed to Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court.

Medical Beauty Company: Lin Chi-ling has not suffered any loss.

A medical beauty company appealed that the articles and pictures on its official WeChat account were used in good faith, and the articles gave Lin Chi-ling a positive evaluation. These photos are only used to improve the beautiful layout of articles and set a positive example for customers, not for profit, and Lin Chi-ling has not suffered any loss because of the company's use of their photos. Therefore, their actions do not constitute infringement of Lin Chi-ling, nor do they need to compensate Lin Chi-ling for its economic losses.

The second trial of Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court held that, firstly, the audience of WeChat official account of a medical beauty company is its customers and potential customers, and the content of the article involves its medical beauty business, so it should be determined that the official account of WeChat uses Lin Chi-ling photos for profit.

Secondly, a medical beauty company failed to prove that it had obtained permission from Lin Chi-ling to use its photos for commercial publicity, which had infringed Lin Chi-ling's portrait right.

Third, if a citizen's portrait right is infringed, he has the right to demand to stop the infringement, eliminate the influence, make an apology and demand compensation for the losses. As an artist, Lin Chi-ling's portrait bears personal interests and has certain commercial value in commercial propaganda. A medical beauty company should bear the corresponding tort liability for its infringement.

Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.

Presiding judge: The medical beauty company constitutes an infringement of the right to portrait.

Xu Pengfei, the presiding judge of the above-mentioned case, made a legal interpretation of the constitutive elements of infringement of portrait rights, and gave relevant legal hints on the marketing activities of business entities on WeChat official accounts and the rights protection of citizens' portrait rights.

Xu Pengfei said that the right of portrait is a natural person's right to take the interests embodied in his own portrait as the content, and the portrait of a natural person shall not be used for profit without his consent. The constitutive elements of infringement of portrait right include without one's consent and for profit. The behavior of a medical beauty company did not obtain the consent of Lin Mouling, and solicited business for the company for profit, which constituted a violation of the right to portrait.

The court reminded that when the business entity uses other people's photos for commercial promotion on the official WeChat account, it must obtain the permission of the portrait owner himself, otherwise it may constitute an infringement of the portrait right. At the same time, the court reminded the general public that the state has clear provisions and protection for citizens' portrait rights. Once the right to portrait is found to be infringed, you can safeguard your legitimate rights and interests through legal channels.