Catherine Bosley, an Ohio television news anchor, won a case this week against Hustler Inc., after the magazine published a photo of her competing in a wet T-shirt contest while on a 2003 Key West vacation. The federal appeals court ruled the magazine was in the wrong for publishing the photo without her permission.
This week, a federal appeals court rejected an appeal by Larry Flynt's company to overturn a 2010 jury verdict that had awarded her $135,000 in damages, according to Cleveland.
On appeal, Hustler and its parent company, Larry Flynt Publications, argued that they had relied on their lawyer's advice that they could publish the image under the so-called "fair use" exception in copyright law that covers news reporting, criticism and commentary.
The photo, which shows off her breasts, was taken back in 2003 when she was 37-years old and a reporter in the local news hierarchy at the time. The photographer who captured images of Bosley disrobing during the contest without her knowledge posted them online and they quickly went viral. The attention soon caused Bosley to resign her job at a CBS-affiliate station in Youngstown.
Bosley and her husband negotiated with the photographer for rights to the photos, which they then registered with the U.S Copyright Office in 2004. Hustler Magazine then published one of the photos in its "Hot New Babes" series two years later, prompting Bosley to sue.
Bosley then hired attorney Andrew Kabat, who had the following to say regarding her lawsuit against the pornography publisher, according to Cleveland:
"When Ms. Bosley and her husband decided to file the lawsuit, they knew that there was a very real risk of additional publicity of an event in their lives that caused a lot of pain, both personally and professionally."
The attorney for Hustler has not yet publically responded in regards to the appeal decision, according to the online news site.
Bosley is now a Cleveland news anchor for WOIO Channel 19 Action News, a CBS affiliate.
