5 of Your Friends Became Fans of a Lawsuit

A photographer, parents of two OC boys, one college student and an actress are getting in Facebook's face.

They filed a lawsuit Monday against the social networking site. The lawsuit, filed in Santa Ana, alleges that Facebook  violated state privacy laws and data mined personal information for profit.

Their complaints were balled into one lawsuit.

Photographer Elisha Melkonian claims she has exclusive rights to her images, protected by federal copyrights, but her images  are being used without her permission on Facebook.

The plaintiffs also include an 11-year-old identified as Xavier O and 12- year-old Chris C, 12, both of Orange County.

According to the lawsuit, Xavier lives with his parents in Orange County  and has "uploaded personal information, videos and photographs, including  swimming and/or partially clothed photographs of children ages 5 to 11,"  according to the lawsuit.

This month, the boy posted "Xavier O. has swine flu... Please pray for  me ... God bless," and his parents, after removing the post, have been unable  to learn what Facebook may have done with the information, according to the  lawsuit.

College student Catherine Aiko claimed in the lawsuit that the terms and  conditions of Facebook membership have shifted since she joined the site in  2005 when it was limited to college students.

Actress and model Elvina Beck, who had a role on the CBS series "CSI:  New York," claims in the lawsuit that images of her have been used on Facebook  without her consent, knowledge or compensation.

The lawsuit, which was filed by the Lanier Law Firm in Los Angeles,  alleges that Facebook uses a variety of means to profit off the personal  information of its members and makes it difficult for its members to find out  how and stop it. A message left with the law firm was not immediately returned, according to the Associated Press.

There was no immediate response to a message left with a Facebook  representative seeking comment by the Associated Press. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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