Erin Andrews Peephole Video: Another Lawsuit?
Erin Andrews is a sports personality that is better known for her lawsuits than her sideline coverage. The Examiner reports that the Erin Andrews peephole video may have yet another lawsuit in the works.
Here's a little back story .... David Barrett took an unauthorized video of Erin Andrews while she was in her hotel room on location for a sporting event. The video went viral, and ultimately landed Barrett behind bars for thirty months. He is locked away, but the video isn't, putting us where we are today -- another lawsuit. This time the suit is aimed at getting any traces of the video stored safely away, or better yet destroyed all together.
The Examiner reports that the website Thedirty.com continues to publish the Erin Andrews peephole video and is now finding themselves in the middle of a potential lawsuit. Andrews's complaint at this point is limited to a cease and desist letter sent by her attorney basically demanding that they take the video down. The letter claims that the continued broadcast of her video is an invasion of her privacy, and has also caused her unrest whenever she is traveling.
Andrews is arguing more that just an invasion of privacy in this instance -- she also asserts copyright infringement. Buying the rights to her photos and video was less of an intellectual property move in the traditional sense, and more of a protection mechanism to strengthen her case against sites such as Thedirty.com.
In copyrighting the video, Erin Andrews has complete control over the use and dissemination of her image. Many celebrities that run into problems like this (celebrity sex tapes mainly) take the "if you can't beat them, join them" approach and will copyright the video in order to make a profit off of it. Erin Andrews is taking a similar road but all signs indicate that she is less concerned about the financial aspect and more concerned about her reputation and wants to take the video down all together. It will be interesting to see if the site, which has gotten into lots of trouble for similar incidents in the past, will be willing to go to court over the video.
Related Resources:
- The Dirty Refuses to Give Erin Andrews Her Privacy (Forbes Blog)
- Final Update: Erin Andrews Stalker Sentenced (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)
- Playmate Kendra Wilkinson May Profit From Sex Tape (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)