Hernandez v. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories

OPINION OF THE COURT

Sullivan, J.

The issues on this appeal from a judgment awarding plaintiffs compensatory and punitive damages for the use of their photographic images are whether defendant’s use exceeded the bounds of plaintiffs’ consent in violation of section 51 of the Civil Rights Law and, if so, whether the award of punitive damages is supported by evidence that defendant’s use of the photographs was “knowing.”

In the summer of 1993, defendant, a manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceutical products, decided to update the labeling and promotional materials for Stuartnatal, one of its…