Michigan

Michigan recognizes the four privacy torts.

Private facts: A photograph of undercover narcotics agents that was taken as they entered a courthouse to testify did not disclose private facts because it was taken in a public place and accompanied a news article about a political and philosophical controversy. Ross v. Burns, 612 F.2d 271 (6th Cir. 1980).

False light: A television documentary on prostitution showed a black woman walking down a Detroit street while the accompanying narration described the effect of the influx of prostitutes on an integrated neighborhood. The woman said the film portrayed her as a prostitute, and the court agreed. She had sufficient grounds for a false light claim. Clark v. American Broadcasting Cos., 684 F.2d 1208 (6th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1040 (1983).

A group of Shriners could not sue Newsweek for false light for selling a photograph for use on an album cover because the magazine was not actively involved in designing the album cover. Morris v. Boucher, 15 Med. L. Rptr. 1089 (E.D. Mich. 1988).

Retouched photographs of a woman were published to illustrate articles on prostitution. The woman would have grounds for a false light claim if she were identifiable from the pictures, despite the fact that she was photographed in a public place. Parnell v. Booth Newspapers Inc., 572 F. Supp. 909 (W.D. Mich. 1983).

A television documentary that portrayed hunting practices in Michigan did not place hunters in a false light because no individual hunters were identified. Michigan United Conservation Clubs v. CBS News, 485 F. Supp. 893 (W.D. Mich. 1980), affd, 665 F.2d 110 (6th Cir. 1981).

Misappropriation: A group of Shriners could not sue Newsweek for misappropriation of a photograph it sold to the band The Dead Kennedys, who used picture on an album cover, because the magazine was not involved in the promotion or sale of the album. Morris v. Boucher, 15 Med. L. Rptr. 1089 (E.D. Mich. 1988).