Shanghai Disneyland sued for shooting visitors' photos for sale

Shanghai Disneyland has been sued for infringing on individual portrait rights by shooting and selling photos without the visitors' consent.

On a tour to the Shanghai Disneyland last year, a law student named Wang from Soochow University was told that he was photographed during a ride on Shanghai Disneyland's "Tron Lightcycle Power Run". If he wanted to take a copy of the photo home as a souvenir, he would have to pay 118 yuan, thepaper.cn reported on Thursday.

Wang voiced his concerns that the park's actions exposed the privacy of a person's whereabouts and that the photo was taken without the person's permission. Despite his concerns, Wang still paid 118 yuan for his own photo to avoid private information leakage.

Wang still believed that there was an infringement of his rights. He has decided to file a lawsuit to protect his rights and interests. The case started on Wednesday.

According to the civil suit filed by Wang, he is requesting that Shanghai Disneyland remove the photographed portrait and apologize to him. He also demands that the park to return the 118 yuan he paid for the photo and bear all the litigation costs of the case.

In an interview, Wang said that his school also encouraged students to participate in such public interest litigation.

Shanghai Disneyland staff said visitors signed a "Terms and Conditions" by default upon entering the park. The agreement includes a rule that reads, "Your entry into the park will be deemed to be your consent to be filmed."

The case has sparked heated discussion online on the legitimacy of amusement parks taking photos without the consent of visitors. Many say taking photos of tourists and selling them is not uncommon in tourist attractions and scenic spots.

A lawyer was quoted by news portal thepaper.cn saying that if Shanghai Disneyland did not inform visitors clearly and did not obtain their consent before taking photos and selling them, it would indeed be considered an infringement.

Lawyers claim that Disney has rules on their website that specify the rights they wish to have. However, they believe that there is a level of coercion by Disney towards visitors to comply with these rules, which may potentially conflict with the Civil Code or other mandatory regulations.