Bill Text: NY S03551 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes a cause of action to prevent and restrict unlawful surveillance; allows recovery of damages for injuries sustained by reason of unlawful surveillance; provides the jury may award exemplary damages.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CODES [S03551 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S03551-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3551 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 8, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CARLUCCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to establishing a cause of action for injunction and damages for unlawful surveillance The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 51 of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 2 674 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 51. Action for injunction and for damages. 1. Any person whose name, 4 portrait, picture or voice is used within this state for advertising 5 purposes or for the purposes of trade without the written consent first 6 obtained as above provided may maintain an equitable action in the 7 supreme court of this state against the person, firm or corporation so 8 using his name, portrait, picture or voice, to prevent and restrain the 9 use thereof; and may also sue and recover damages for any injuries 10 sustained by reason of such use and if the defendant shall have knowing- 11 ly used such person's name, portrait, picture or voice in such manner as 12 is forbidden or declared to be unlawful by section fifty of this arti- 13 cle, the jury, in its discretion, may award exemplary damages. But noth- 14 ing contained in this article shall be so construed as to prevent any 15 person, firm or corporation from selling or otherwise transferring any 16 material containing such name, portrait, picture or voice in whatever 17 medium to any user of such name, portrait, picture or voice, or to any 18 third party for sale or transfer directly or indirectly to such a user, 19 for use in a manner lawful under this article; nothing contained in this 20 article shall be so construed as to prevent any person, firm or corpo- 21 ration, practicing the profession of photography, from exhibiting in or 22 about his or its establishment specimens of the work of such establish- 23 ment, unless the same is continued by such person, firm or corporation 24 after written notice objecting thereto has been given by the person 25 portrayed; and nothing contained in this article shall be so construed EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06305-01-9S. 3551 2 1 as to prevent any person, firm or corporation from using the name, 2 portrait, picture or voice of any manufacturer or dealer in connection 3 with the goods, wares and merchandise manufactured, produced or dealt in 4 by him which he has sold or disposed of with such name, portrait, 5 picture or voice used in connection therewith; or from using the name, 6 portrait, picture or voice of any author, composer or artist in 7 connection with his literary, musical or artistic productions which he 8 has sold or disposed of with such name, portrait, picture or voice used 9 in connection therewith. Nothing contained in this section shall be 10 construed to prohibit the copyright owner of a sound recording from 11 disposing of, dealing in, licensing or selling that sound recording to 12 any party, if the right to dispose of, deal in, license or sell such 13 sound recording has been conferred by contract or other written document 14 by such living person or the holder of such right. Nothing contained in 15 the foregoing sentence shall be deemed to abrogate or otherwise limit 16 any rights or remedies otherwise conferred by federal law or state law. 17 2. (a) Any person who is a subject of unlawful surveillance by a 18 person may maintain an equitable action in the supreme court of this 19 state against the person responsible for the unlawful surveillance to 20 prevent and restrain such surveillance and may also sue and recover 21 damages for any injuries sustained by reason of such surveillance and 22 the jury, in its discretion, may award exemplary damages. 23 (b) A person is a subject of unlawful surveillance when another 24 person: 25 (1) For such other person's own, or another person's amusement, enter- 26 tainment, or profit, or for the purpose of degrading or abusing a 27 person, the person intentionally uses or installs, or permits the utili- 28 zation or installation of an imaging device to surreptitiously view, 29 broadcast or record a person dressing or undressing or the sexual or 30 other intimate parts of such person at a place and time when such person 31 has a reasonable expectation of privacy, without such person's knowledge 32 or consent; or 33 (2) For such other person's own, or another person's sexual arousal or 34 sexual gratification, the person intentionally uses or installs, or 35 permits the utilization or installation of an imaging device to surrep- 36 titiously view, broadcast or record a person dressing or undressing or 37 the sexual or other intimate parts of such person at a place and time 38 when such person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, without such 39 person's knowledge or consent; or 40 (3) (i) For no legitimate purpose, a person intentionally uses or 41 installs, or permits the utilization or installation of an imaging 42 device to surreptitiously view, broadcast or record a person in a 43 bedroom, changing room, fitting room, restroom, toilet, bathroom, wash- 44 room, shower to any room assigned to guests or patrons in a motel, hotel 45 or inn, without such person's knowledge or consent. 46 (ii) For purposes of this subdivision, when a person uses or installs, 47 or permits the utilization or installation of an imaging device in a 48 bedroom, changing room, fitting room, restroom, toilet, bathroom, wash- 49 room, shower or any room assigned to guests or patrons in a hotel, motel 50 or inn, there is a rebuttable presumption that such person did so for no 51 legitimate purpose; or 52 (4) Without the knowledge or consent of a person, a person inten- 53 tionally uses or installs, or permits the utilization or installation of 54 an imaging device to surreptitiously view, broadcast or record, under 55 the clothing being worn by such person, the sexual or other intimate 56 parts of such person; orS. 3551 3 1 (5) For such other person's own, or another person's amusement, enter- 2 tainment, profit, sexual arousal or gratification, or for the purpose of 3 degrading or abusing a person, the person intentionally uses or installs 4 or permits the utilization or installation of an imaging device to 5 surreptitiously view, broadcast, or record another person in an iden- 6 tifiable manner engaging in sexual conduct, in the same image with the 7 sexual or intimate part of any other person, at a place and time when 8 such person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, and without such 9 person's knowledge or consent. 10 (6) For purposes of this subdivision "person" shall mean a person, 11 firm or corporation. 12 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 13 it shall have become a law.