Court rejects kiss video lawsuit
1/9/2004 16:08
The Hongkou District People's Court yesterday rejected a lawsuit filed by
two college students against Fuxing High School.
The students graduated from
Fuxing last year and filed over a breach of privacy.
Wei Gang and his
girlfriend, who didn't want to be named, said the school violated their privacy
by setting up cameras in classrooms and broadcasting their passionate kiss to
the whole school. The couple asked Fuxing to apologize in Youth Daily newspaper
and on campus. They also demanded 10,000 yuan (US$1,205) compensation for mental
anguish.
The school aired a tape which contained scenes of students violating
guidelines on April 7, 2003.
In addition to people sleeping during class or
kicking a ball indoors, Wei and his classmates were shocked to find he was
captured on video kissing his girlfriend.
"We soon became the subject of
constant mockery and were known by all students and teachers in the school," Wei
said during the first hearing on January 19.
Wei argued that the event
imposed such a strong negative influence that his girlfriend even considered
committing suicide by jumping off the fifth floor of Fuxing High School.
The
couple also claimed the stress affected their performance on the college
entrance examinations.
Both Wei and his girlfriend did poorly on the
examination, according to the lawsuit.
Wei claimed both should have achieved
better results since Fuxing is one of the best high schools in the city.
The
school argued the broadcast was not a privacy intrusion since Wei kissed the
girl in a public place with 20 other students present.
"Their classmates and
teachers knew they were a couple, so it can't be recognized as privacy," said
Tao Xinliang, the school's attorney.
Students were also told that the school
had installed cameras in classrooms and hallways to monitor behavior. The only
areas free of cameras were toilets and dormitories.
Si Weijing, the couple's
attorney, argued that the school had no right to broadcast the image. By doing
so, it infringed the couple's right to privacy.
But Tao insisted that
broadcasting the tape was just to educate students.
"The school used a
technique to cover all faces appearing in the video. It didn't aim to hurt
anyone in particular," Tao said.
The court ruled that Fuxing High School has
the right to monitor student behavior and agreed that the couple were in a
public place.
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