Teachers, after volunteering for a photo shoot for an official class photo, may not request that the photo be removed later from the school yearbook. A corresponding complaint of a teacher rejected the administrative court in Rhineland-Palatinate Koblenz (file reference: 5 K 101 / 19.KO).
The judges found that the teacher at least tacitly agreed to participate in the photo session. In addition, a separate consent of the man for such a harmless reception in the official setting had theoretically not been necessary.
Class and vintage photos are to be assigned to "the area of contemporary history", because exactly this meaning they would have for members of a school. Therefore, there is no unlawful interference with the right to one's own image which the man could assert.
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The teacher, who teaches at a high school in Rhineland-Palatinate, was photographed by the court at a photo session with two school classes. After that, as in the previous year, the school published a yearbook with pictures of all classes and courses and the respective teachers.
The applicant then complained about the publication of the two pictures, arguing that his prior consent had not been obtained. He had only been photographed because a colleague persuaded him to participate. However, he did not know the true purpose of the pictures. The photographer assured him that the pictures would not be published.
The judgment can still be challenged before the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Administrative Court.
