https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/05/us/harvard-slave-photos-lawsuit-trnd/index.html
A woman who says she is the direct descendant of a man and woman pictured in some of the earliest known photographs of enslaved people does not have a property interest in the images, now owned by Harvard University, a Massachusetts judge ruled Tuesday.
Tamara Lanier, 58, took Harvard to court in March 2019 for "wrongful seizure, possession and expropriation" of the images, arguing her great-great-great grandfather Renty and his daughter Delia "remain enslaved" by the university.
"Fully acknowledging the continuing impact slavery has had in the United States, the law as it currently stands, does not confer a property interest to the subject of a photograph regardless of how objectionable the photograph's origins may be," Justice Camille Sarrouf wrote in an order dismissing the case in Middlesex County Superior Court.
It is a "basic tenet of common law" that a photograph's subject has no interest in a negative, nor any photographs printed from the negative, Sarrouf wrote in the 15-page ruling, adding that the court is constrained by "current legal principles," and only the state legislature or appellate courts can "provide the redress Lanier now seeks."
Lanier's lawsuit claimed Harvard profits off the images and asked that the university turn them over and pay unspecified damages. The images are believed to be the earliest known photographs of slaves. One was used in 2017 as a cover photo for the book "From Site to Sight: Anthropology, Photography and the Power of Imagery."
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/05/us/harvard-slave-photos-lawsuit-trnd/index.html
Tamara Lanier said she is a direct descendent of the man in the iconic photos.
A woman who says she is the direct descendant of a man and woman pictured in some of the earliest known photographs of enslaved people does not have a property interest in the images, now owned by Harvard University, a Massachusetts judge ruled Tuesday.
Tamara Lanier, 58, took Harvard to court in March 2019 for "wrongful seizure, possession and expropriation" of the images, arguing her great-great-great grandfather Renty and his daughter Delia "remain enslaved" by the university.
"Fully acknowledging the continuing impact slavery has had in the United States, the law as it currently stands, does not confer a property interest to the subject of a photograph regardless of how objectionable the photograph's origins may be," Justice Camille Sarrouf wrote in an order dismissing the case in Middlesex County Superior Court.
It is a "basic tenet of common law" that a photograph's subject has no interest in a negative, nor any photographs printed from the negative, Sarrouf wrote in the 15-page ruling, adding that the court is constrained by "current legal principles," and only the state legislature or appellate courts can "provide the redress Lanier now seeks."
Lanier's lawsuit claimed Harvard profits off the images and asked that the university turn them over and pay unspecified damages. The images are believed to be the earliest known photographs of slaves. One was used in 2017 as a cover photo for the book "From Site to Sight: Anthropology, Photography and the Power of Imagery."
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/05/us/harvard-slave-photos-lawsuit-trnd/index.html
Tamara Lanier said she is a direct descendent of the man in the iconic photos.
