According to a recent decision¹ issued by the State Court of São Paulo, in the absence of a written agreement, the term of an authorization for use of an individual’s image (likeness) cannot be presumed to exceed 10 years.
In this case, the plaintiff’s mother had authorized the use of the image of her daughter in packaging of products of a toy company in the year 1995, when the plaintiff was still a baby. However, 14 years later the plaintiff found out that her image was still being used by the company.
The Court held that this use constituted an illicit act civil and infringed the plaintiff’s rights of personality.
The appeal was partially granted to reverse the lower court’s decision only in connection with the amount of damages to be paid by defendant as loss of profits from 20 to 10 thousand reais (approximately USD 3,120). The moral damages was confirmed at 10 thousand reais (approximately USD 3,120).
¹Lawsuit no. 0149514-72.2010.8.26.0100