Teenager sues over porn picture

A teenage photographer is suing US porn film company TVX Films for damages after, it used a photo of her, aged 14, on the front cover of one of its DVDs, Body Magic.

Lara Jade Coton, now 18, was "shocked and disgusted" that her self-portrait, which she put on the internet, had been used without her permission. Miss Coton, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, has filed a lawsuit against the film company through a California court.

Miss Coton said she found out that the photo had been used when someone e-mailed her asking her permission to use it on their blog.

She said: "I was shocked and disgusted because I was 14 at the time the photo was taken. My family were outraged. You don't expect your image posted on a website to be taken for something like that. I was pretty frightened, especially about what people's reactions might be.

"If I didn't put the case in now, in years to come - because I want to be a successful photographer - then what would happen?"

She said she had e-mailed TVX and was told that her photo was "to blame" for the DVD's poor sales. "I was very angry. Their reaction was shocking."