
Fox Entertainment Group, Fox Cable Networks and the National Geographical Society are being sued by the widow of an Army sergeant for illegally using images of her and her two children in a documentary.
The film, Inside Afghan ER, showed pictures of a family trip that were on the computer of late Army Staff Sergeant Kevin Casey Roberts that were illegally taken off of his laptop after his death and used without permission, according to the lawsuit. His widow, Donnice Roberts, filed the complaint in a Texas federal court. She is seeking an injunction against the film.
According to the lawsuit, Mrs. Roberts feels that the image of her family being used is troubling, given the "fanaticism associated with jihadists determined to kill Americans, including American women and children."
Roberts received a phone call from a service member who saw the film on the Armed Forces Network in Germany. It was the first she had heard of the film. She contacted the National Geographic Society and asked for a copy of the film, but was told that she would have to sign a release, which she refused.
She says that she has suffered "mental anguish, shock and sadness" as a result of the film, and says that Fox's cable TV networks are endangering the lives of her and her children.
"Roberts has fears and concerns that her minor children are depicted as the children of a warrior in the war on our terror, which is fought by fanatic, radical individuals who have shown a propensity and desire to kill Americans, including women and children," reads the lawsuit.
Does she have a case?
If they really did lift the photos from a soldier's computer after his death, then they most definitely have a case. Good for her for refusing the release.
Sloppy on National Geographic's part.