Howard Stern

Howard Stern ("Stern" or "Plaintiff"), a controversial radio talk show celebrity and heavily promoted public figure, announced his candidacy for the office of Governor of the State of New York in the Spring of 1994. Defendant Delphi Internet Services Corporation ("Delphi" or "Defendant") provides access to paid subscribers to the vast electronic "information super highway," known as the Internet. Stern brought this lawsuit because his photograph was used without his permission in an advertisement for the on-line bulletin board service Delphi had set up to debate Sterns own political candidacy. There is no allegation that the defendant obtained the outlandish, bare buttock photo unlawfully or improperly. It is clear that plaintiff posed for the picture, but he does not object on grounds of its lewdness.