to poverty-porn.

Point to poverty-porn critics? Ay.

The law firm Klayme, Chaise, & Steele LLC announced today that one of their clients was suing the prominent non-governmental organization (NGO) Care for the Children (CFTC) for unauthorized use of the client’s photo as a child..

The lawyers revealed their client is now a sophomore at a university, but refuses to give his name or home country to protect what is left of his privacy. The client remembers vividly the day he came across the cover of the CFTC brochure “Give for the Sake of the Children”, which featured a picture of himself as a child. The lawyers said, “At no time was permission given to CFTC by the child, his parents, or legal guardians to take such a photo, much less to broadcast innumerable copies of it around the Western world to gather funding for this organization.”

… DISCLAIMER: Klayme, Chaise, and Steele LLC is a fictional limited-liability corporation under New York State law, and hereby reserves the right to make fictional statements about non-true occurrences and related non-existent organizations and individuals to score heavy-handed satirical points for serious purposes.

The Aga Khan Foundation asks that I carry around consent forms for parents and minors being interviewed or photographed. To be honest, remembering to have these forms signed is not self-evident. Generally, I am more focused on getting the right shot, asking the right questions or not terrifying the child. It looks like we will have to be a bit more vigilant.

However, I’m not sure that having the mother of a five-year-old sign a consent form is really fair. A lot of the individuals I interview are illiterate and signing their name (often a scribble) to something they cannot read and, even if they can, is not in their own language is not exactly a fair exchange (and is slightly humiliating). Does anyone use tape-recorded verbal agreements as an alternative? Could these even be legally binding?

Anyways, three cheers to their client who may have hit the jackpot and will have no concern for student loans.

* And yes, satire was delayed and noted. I’ve included the disclaimer since this might have confused a fair number. And in non-satire this morning, anyone have answers for the latter part of my post?