S03551 Summary:

BILL NOS03551
 
SAME ASNo Same As
 
SPONSORCARLUCCI
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §51, Civ Rts L
 
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.
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S03551 Actions:

BILL NOS03551
 
02/08/2019REFERRED TO CODES
01/08/2020REFERRED TO CODES
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S03551 Committee Votes:

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S03551 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
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S03551 Text:



 
                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.
                                                                   LBD06305-01-9

        S. 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; or

        S. 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.
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