New Jersey Mom Suing After Breastfeeding Video Turned Into Porn

A New Jersey mom is suing after an educational video showing her breastfeeding her baby was turned into porn. Before shooting the video, which the mother participated in in 2010, MaryAnn Sahoury did not read through the release she signed before agreeing to the video — a move that turned out to be a huge mistake.

Sahoury did not receive payment for participating in the instructional breastfeeding video and was given assurances that her name and her one-month-old daughter’s name would never be used, reports The New York Daily News. The young mother stated:

“I really had no reason to question it. We went through everything before so I just filled it out and I signed it.”

But it turns out she was very wrong. In signing the authorization she gave Meredith Video Studios, a subsidiery of the media giant Meredith Corp., the ability to share the video “across all platforms.”

Months after appearing in the video, titled “Breastfeeding Help,” MaryAnn Sahoury googled her name to see if the video had aired. Instead, she was horrified to see that her video was shared on YouTube where it was snatched by a third party that manipulated it, combining pornographic footage, the young mother recalled:

“I was sick to my stomach. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I just felt so paralyzed.”

Sahoury has claimed that she pleaded with Meredith to make YouTube remove the x-rated splicing of her educational video, but the production company refused to do so until August 2010 after the video had been viewed 15,000 times. Within 24 hours, it popped up again, drawing over 2,500 views in one week, much to the New Jersey mother’s dismay.

Care2 notes that a federal judge okayed MaryAnn Sahoury’s lawsuit against Meredith to go through, even though Meredith released the following statement:

“Meredith was appalled to learn someone misused a video meant to help new mothers. We took immediate action, hiring leading law firms and online specialists to file take-down demands, clear online caches and create positive references. We took these actions even though Ms. Sahoury signed a release authorizing use of the video across all media platforms, and holding Meredith harmless for any potential misuse of the video by a third party.”

Do you think that MaryAnn Sahoury should be suing Meredith for the breastfeeding video that was turned into porn?