I'm probably outing myself as a bit too bizarre to be hanging around PLIME, but reading the article made me curious about the pictures.

I can see people having a problem if he's shown the faces of their loved ones, but if he didn't then I don't have a problem with it, unless it was sexual in nature, but from the article it didn't sound like he did anything horrible.

lol, i'm curious about them too daft. i'm wondering just how they were posed and how the 'props' were used. i mean for all we know it could be a photo of someones dead granny naked, lying on her stomach with an apple in her mouth like a luau pig. i dare say if i saw a photo of my deceased grandma like that i'd probably freak out too. overall it just seems creepy to me, i mean what with all the people who are willing to donate their bodies to science or to be plastinated, etc. you'd think he could have found a few that would consent in writing to being photographed after their death. but to do anything like that without permission is just creepy and likely offensive to the persons surviving family. (just my humble opinion)

$8,000,000 is far far far too excessive. The cashing in by the family and lawyers of a harmless string of actions is far more reprehensible than the actions themselves

That ranks pretty high on the weird-o meter. Why not use live bodies for the "exhibit". If you posing them with doll furniture to show size, I am sure a live subject would be more than willing to help out.

QFT

I'd be pissed, but I think I would settle for the guy being fired and having it go on his record so he couldn't work in a morgue again.
I don't even think I'd want him to serve jail time for what he did. He showed some really crappy judgement, but I think 18 months in jail and an $8M settlement is excessive.

Where they messed up at is explaining that it was for an art project.

If they claimed it was for religious purposes, than out of sensitivity for another's belief system they would have been allowed to continue to take the pictures and any family member that complain would be labeled a bigot and ostracized

I am only joking, but I am not so sure it wouldn't have worked.

8 mil divided by 532 families is about $15,000 to each family. Yes it is a lot. Cashing in? Not likely. After lawyers fees and taxes and such they will be lucky to see $8,000 per family.

I want to see pictures...but I'm morbid.

If its 15k per family...does each family include brothers and sisters/aunts/uncles...etc. If it does...then divide the 15k among them, and they really are not getting very much.

I'd be a lil peeved if it was my family member. We do not allow any photography at my relatives funerals. I'd would have just liked for him to be blackmarked in the photography/mortician business for the rest of his life.

Well even at that, it isn't deserved. There simply wasn't $8,000 worth of damage done. Plust they probably thought they'd get a lot more. It is the same as the mathematically challenged people who jump onto class action lawsuits. They think they've hit pay dirt because they're suing some big company, but they end up with a coupon for $5.00 off their next purchase.

second of all, if anyone should pay, if it was about justice, than the people who did the deed should pay. Of course they don't have $8,000,000 so no one will do that. They want the big pockets, even if it isn't about money.

Third if they were so offended than they really screwed up. Their lawsuit turned what would have been a forgotten incident known to a relative small number of people into a international story known by millions.

Also, you can bet that some of the images will turn up and be passed around.

That is your personal opinion. Someone else's opinion may vary.Again, an opinion. It is impossible to know what was in all of the people's heads. I am sure some of them were thinking that, but I am just as sure many were not.County employee, ergo, county liability / insurance coverage.If they were that offended (and I am sure some were), it was not about the money they would get, rather about punishment and sending a message to other weirdos. True, the photog won't have to pay, but I am sure he is dealing with his actions in other ways now.According to the terms, all copies must be destroyed. Doesn't mean it will happen, just that it is supposed to.

i think i wouldn't mind having my dead body desecrated for the sake of art. my parents, on the other hand, do not have an education in the arts, nor any appreciation for the arts. i'm pretty sure some good ol' monetary compensation would make up for a little bit of the anger and resentment they might feel after finding out their beloved child's body was being used as a stage prop against their wishes for an "art project."

just sayin.

it's the principle! the principle, i tell you!

heh.