BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2643
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Date of Hearing: May 7, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2643 (Wieckowski) - As Amended: April 24, 2014
Policy Committee:
JudiciaryVote:10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill allows a private cause of action against a person for
publishing "revenge porn."
Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes a private cause of action, with specified
exceptions, against a person who intentionally or recklessly
distributes by any means a photograph, film, videotape,
recording, or any other reproduction of another without his or
her consent, if the distributed material exposes an intimate
body part of the other person, or shows the other person
engaging in an act of sexual intercourse, oral copulation,
sodomy, or other act of sexual penetration.
2)Permits the court, in addition to any other relief, to order
equitable relief against the person violating the provisions
of this bill, including a temporary restraining order or a
preliminary or permanent injunction ordering the defendant to
remove the distributed material, and permits the court to
grant reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the prevailing
party.
3)Permits a plaintiff to proceed with the action using a
pseudonym and to redact identifying characteristics from
pleadings and documents filed for the case.
4)Requires the Judicial Council, by July 1, 2015, to develop a
confidential information form for the plaintiff 's use
pursuant to (3).
5)Stipulates that this right of actions does not preclude a
AB 2643
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plaintiff from recovering any other available remedy.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible state trial court costs for a new cause of action.
COMMENTS
Background and Purpose . SB 255 (Cannella)/Statutes of 2013 made
it a crime for a person to photograph (or otherwise record) a
person's "intimate body parts" and then distribute the image or
recording with the intent to cause the depicted person serious
emotional distress (and where the two parties had an
understanding that the image or recording would remain private).
SB 255 was enacted in response to the allegedly growing problem
of "revenge porn," which, in the typical scenario, involves one
person maliciously posting sexually explicit images of another
person (usually a former intimate partner) without that person's
consent.
This bill supplements SB 255 by creating a civil cause of
action, including injunctive relief ordering the offending
material to be removed and not republished. In addition, so as
not to expose the victim to even more humiliation, the bill
permits a victim to file an action using a pseudonym and to
redact other identifying characteristics from the pleadings or
other documents filed as part of the action. Although the
author's primary objective is to allow victims to obtain an
injunction ordering removal the offending image, the bill
expressly states that nothing in the bill is intended to
preclude any other remedies available at law, including pursuit
of damages under various theories of tort law.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081