Article 1019 of the "People's Republic of China and Civil Code" stipulates that no organization or individual may infringe the portrait of others by defaming, defacing, or using information technology means to forge, etc. right. Without the consent of the portrait right holder, the portrait of the portrait right holder shall not be produced, used, or disclosed, unless otherwise provided by law. Without the consent of the portrait right holder, the right holder of the portrait work shall not use or disclose the portrait of the portrait right holder in any manner such as publishing, copying, distributing, renting, or exhibiting.

Portrait rights and name rights are the most basic rights we have as human beings. We have the right to use them, but if these basic rights of ours are infringed by others, we should promptly defend ourselves. If you are looking for ways to avoid losses, you can use legal means to protect your legitimate rights and interests. So what is the content of the infringement of portrait rights?

1. Legal provisions for infringement of portrait rights. Infringement of portrait rights does not fall within the scope of criminal law and does not require criminal liability. For the impact caused, only civil compensation can be claimed. Article 1019 of the Civil Code (effective from January 1, 2021): No organization or individual may infringe on the portrait rights of others by defaming, defacing, or using information technology means to forge. Without the consent of the portrait right holder, the portrait of the portrait right holder shall not be produced, used, or disclosed, unless otherwise provided by law. Without the consent of the portrait right holder, the right holder of the portrait work shall not use or disclose the portrait of the portrait right holder in any manner such as publishing, copying, distributing, renting, or exhibiting. Article 995: Where personality rights are infringed upon, the victim has the right to request the perpetrator to bear civil liability in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other laws. The statute of limitations does not apply to the victim's right to request to stop the infringement, remove obstacles, eliminate danger, eliminate influence, restore reputation, and make an apology. Article 1022 If the parties have not agreed on the term of the portrait license or the agreement is unclear, either party may terminate the portrait license contract at any time, but must notify the other party before a reasonable period of time. If the parties have a clear agreement on the term of the portrait license, and the portrait right holder has legitimate reasons, he may terminate the portrait license contract, but the other party must be notified before a reasonable period of time. If the other party suffers losses as a result of the termination of the contract, the party shall compensate for the losses unless the cause is not attributable to the portrait right holder.

2. What constitutes an infringement of portrait rights? Strictly speaking, in photography activities, as long as one of the following circumstances occurs, it can be regarded as an infringement of others. Image rights. 1. The act of using the portrait without the consent of the portrait owner without any illegal reasons. The act of using the likeness of another person without his or her consent is also called "improper use of another person's likeness." The legal provisions on portrait rights in my country's civil law basically address the "improper use" of portraits. This improper use is divided into: "for-profit" and "non-profit" illegal use. We cannot think that as long as the purpose is not for profit, or with the consent of the portrait rights holder, a citizen's portrait can be used arbitrarily for non-profit purposes. This understanding is one-sided. Article 1019 of my country's Civil Code (effective from January 1, 2021) stipulates that no organization or individual may infringe on the portrait rights of others by defaming, defacing, or using information technology means to forge. Without the consent of the portrait right holder, the portrait of the portrait right holder shall not be produced, used, or disclosed, unless otherwise provided by law. Without the consent of the portrait right holder, the right holder of the portrait work shall not use or disclose the portrait of the portrait right holder in any manner such as publishing, copying, distributing, renting, or exhibiting. Article 139 of the Supreme People's Court's "Opinions on the Implementation of Several Issues (Trial)" limits this infringement to: "for the purpose of profit, using the citizen's likeness for advertising, trademarks, window decoration, etc. without the consent" . Article 120 stipulates: "Citizens whose rights to name, portrait, or reputation have been harmed have the right to demand that the infringement be stopped, their reputation restored, the impact eliminated, an apology made, and compensation for losses." Among the acts of using another person's image for profit-making purposes, only acts that prevent illegal activities are legal acts. Such as news reports, "wanted orders" issued by the public security organs to apprehend criminal suspects, etc. The right to portrait, like the right to name, has exclusive rights. The possession, use and disposal of one's own portrait can only belong to the citizen himself, and no one else can enjoy it without his consent.

Infringement of portrait rights does not consist in using citizens' portraits for profit, but in disrespecting citizens' exclusive rights to their portraits. Therefore, regardless of the purpose, the citizen's consent must be obtained to copy, disseminate, or exhibit a citizen's portrait, otherwise it will constitute an infringement of portrait rights. 2. Making portraits of others without authorization (including possessing photos of others). The act of creating and possessing other people's portraits (photos) without their consent. For photographers, it is the act of secretly taking photos of others. Portraits are the external expression of a citizen's "personality", and only the person has the right to decide whether to reproduce his or her own image. As for whether the portrait is produced (photographed) for public publication or private collection, it does not affect the composition of infringement of portrait rights. That is to say: even if it is not used publicly, it still constitutes infringement, such as a photo studio privately printing and storing customer photos, etc. 3. Maliciously insult or deface other people’s portraits. That is, the wrongdoer maliciously infringes the portrait of others or destroys the integrity of the portrait of others by insulting, vilifying, defiling, damaging, etc. Including altering, distorting, burning, tearing or hanging other people's photos upside down, such behavior not only constitutes an infringement of the right of portrait, but also often constitutes an infringement of the right of reputation. Based on the above, in photography practice, there are often three situations that constitute infringement of portrait rights: In recent years, there seem to be more and more reports of so-called infringement of “portrait rights”. The reasons may be attributed to the following three reasons: The first is that the photographer does not understand the law; the second is that the photographer intentionally infringes on other people's portrait rights with the intention of "profiting"; and the third is that the person being photographed does not understand the legal significance of portrait rights, as long as his own portrait is published in the press To sue for compensation (1), "for profit" must meet two conditions at the same time: first, the use of another person's likeness without the consent of the person; second, the act is for profit and infringes on the likeness of others. Rights, that is, users subjectively hope to obtain economic benefits through the use of other people's portraits. However, the so-called "profit" does not mean making a profit as we usually understand it, as long as there is a subjective intention to make a profit and there is an objective purpose. Profit-making behavior, regardless of whether the perpetrator achieves the purpose of profit-making, constitutes an actual act of "profit-making". (2) Any infringement of another person's right of portrait (right of reputation, right of honor) in any form shall also bear legal liability: that is, the offended person. The infringer has the right to require the infringer to stop the infringement, restore his reputation, eliminate the impact, apologize, and compensate for losses. It can be seen that if the portrait rights holder is not used for profit without the permission of the portrait right holder, if it causes actual damage to the portrait right holder, If it causes mental damage to the portrait rights owner, the user will also be liable for infringement (portrait rights). In judicial practice, there are also many cases of defacing, beautifying, and distorting citizens' portraits without the purpose of profit. The above can clearly show that whether it is "for profit" is not the only prerequisite and requirement for determining whether there is an infringement of a citizen's right to portrait, but is only an important factor in determining the degree of liability for infringement. (3) Although the holder of the portrait right agrees to use it. Portrait works, but because the user exceeds the use scope, use area, and use time limit permitted by the portrait right holder, this situation does not require actual damage to the portrait right holder, which will constitute infringement liability. Of course, this situation generally falls under the category of infringement. The issue of liability for breach of contract and portrait rights are really very private to us. It is really annoying for our photos to be used by others for no reason. It feels like our face has been published to the world. It is very annoying. There is no sense of security. Our country's laws also clearly stipulate that for some situations, such as taking photos for others and sending them out, there are different degrees of infringement on portrait rights. If the person who sends them out does it for profit and without the consent of the person concerned, It can be considered as an infringement of the right of portrait.

The question of the infringement of the right of portrait has been answered above. Citizens’ rights of portrait, name, etc. are only enjoyed by themselves. If they do not agree, any rights will be violated. It is not feasible for people to use it, but does infringement of portrait rights rise to the level of criminal punishment? Therefore, people who infringe portrait rights generally apologize to the person who holds the portrait rights, and provide the same level of civil compensation to solve the problem.