Colorado

Colorado has recognized the intrusion, private facts and false light torts, but has not considered misappropriation.

Intrusion: A private investigator who was hired to determine whether a business was violating zoning laws entered the business property by posing as a customer, and observed the business from outside of the property with a telescopic lense. His actions did not intrude upon the business owners seclusion. The business owners had no legitimate expectation of privacy in areas of their property visible from a public road, or in actions that violated the law. The court also recognized that business properties often are subject to a diminished expectation of privacy. Sundheim v. Board of County Commrs, 904 P.2d 1337 (Colo. App. 1995), affd on other grounds, 926 P.2d 545 (Colo. 1996).

When a television reporter enters private property to cover a news event of public interest, he cannot be found guilty of trespassing unless he intended to trespass, acted in reckless disregard of the owners rights, or the owner suffered damage because of the trespass. Allen v. Combined Communications, 7 Med. L. Rptr. 2417 (Colo. Dist. Ct. 1981).

False light: A television broadcast that referenced a dispute between an employer and an employee over a fee paid to an employment agency, and which briefly showed a photo of the employment agency, did not place the agency in a false light. McCammon & Associates v. McGraw-Hill Broadcasting Co., 716 P.2d 490 (Colo. App. 1986).