Russia Provides Up-To-Date Protection For Image Rights

Issues relating to the use of a person's image arise frequently, especially in the field of advertising and particularly where photographs of professional models – which are often shot for a specific advertisement under a particular agreement – are used. In many cases photographs are taken not from authorised stock photo websites, but from other sources on the Internet and are used without the subject's permission.

The legal provisions governing an individual's rights over his or her image are designed to protect a person's appearance and to ensure privacy. Although image rights are similar to IP rights in their legal nature, they are in fact regulated by different rules. According to the current law and court practice, the right to publish and use an image of a person is not exclusive; portraits are not recognised as intellectual property, but rather as items with a nonmaterial value.