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Society
Photo: DPA (file image)

Teen girl discovers 'swinging' parents online

Published: 16 Feb 12 12:02 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120216-40787.html

A German judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a couple of swingers after their 15-year-old daughter discovered a video of them in a sex club with their faces undisguised on the website of TV channel RTL.

The production company responsible for producing the report for RTL had meant to pixelate the couple’s faces but forgot, according to a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday. The swinging parents wanted compensation for the alleged pain and suffering their family faced after the embarrassing revelations.

But the presiding judge said that in order to proceed with the lawsuit, the girl would have had to appear in court to testify and describe her shock – something he said she should be spared.

“I wouldn’t want be in your shoes,” he told the parents, according to the Süddeutsche. "That's simply embarrassing."

He explained that the parents weren’t due compensation because they had agreed to the filming in the first place and the production mistake had been an honest one.

Instead he suggested a compromise: That the production company and RTL pay the parents a small fee for their appearance and cover their legal expenses of about €3,000.

After all, he said, the fact that real people could say “this is what these people look like” probably made the show even more successful than normal.

The Local/mdm

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

13:03 February 16, 2012 by pepsionice
The judge probably would admit that six percent (my humble opinion) of all Germans are members of some swingers club.....so it's not much of a shock in reality. If you just walk around Frankfurt or Berlin on a Saturday....you could be shocked by the attire of folks just as easily, and thats off a public street. Just riding an hour on the Frankfurt S-bahn would shock folks if you paid attention to what people wear or didn't wear.
15:26 February 16, 2012 by Landmine
Just living in Germany with regards to this alone is a shock in itself....
16:05 February 16, 2012 by boopsie
Just because it was an "honest" mistake doesn't mean that RTL should not be liable for the damages of invasion of privacy. The couple consented to filming with the proviso that their identities be hidden and since privacy is a very important issue RTL should pay a whopping big fee to these folks. Then you would find fewer "honest" mistakes in the future in my opinion.
16:33 February 16, 2012 by raandy
Thats very true boopsie, if they let this slide the number of "Honest Mistakes" could double.Nothing like a hefty fine to correct those "Honest Mistakes" in the future.
16:42 February 16, 2012 by Lifestyle Living
This is a very sensitive subject and privacy is a big issue. Let this be a cautionary tale for everyone.
17:02 February 16, 2012 by Englishted
Most mistakes are honest mistakes or they would not be mistakes in the first place.

But if you forget something and it causes a accident could you site this case and say it was a honest mistake which it would be?
19:00 February 16, 2012 by storymann
I think a mistake is a mistake honest or otherwise. A mistake is a signal that prudence , training , funds or poorly informed employees all points to a situation that needs improvement to avoid mistakes.

Yes indeed fine these idiots.
21:38 February 16, 2012 by wood artist
Seems like if there was some sort of "contract" regarding how the video might be used or altered, the judge should have found in favor of the couple. A contract is a contract, unless something "illegal" was involved, and that doesn't appear to be the case.

In the US the brawl would be over what the girl was doing on a "porn site" in the first place...but the US is different about that sort of thing.

wa
23:12 February 16, 2012 by Irving J.
The girl was looking at the RTL web site. RTL is a TV network. It was a news article. There was nothing unfactual about the news article. I think the payment of EU 3000 was very reasonable, and I doubt the daughter was so shocked. C'mon, this is a a country with "Love" Hotels and "Eros" Hotels and with porn shops in Frankfurt Airport. If that picture was accurate, at least they were wearing some clothes.
07:38 February 17, 2012 by AmiHeiner
I doubt the daughter even saw it. They were just trying to get paid.
15:05 February 17, 2012 by dasein
I think this epitomizes the German thinking - the parents want the child to be compensated for the embarrassing revelation - what embarrassing revelation??? - ahh, the parents S&Ming in a sex club . To avoid embarrassment, do nothing you consider embarassing - if they really believe their clubbing is fine, then they should admit it and be proud of it - but obviously, they say themselves their actions were unhealthy and damaging to their child - shoulda thought about that.

if you dont want to cause harm, do no harm. Post war (west) Germans hate personal responsibility. They hide their "bad" habits and get enraged when someone catches them at it - as long as it is hidden, they pretend to themselves and other hey are just fine - not.

Germany is both misogynist and inhibited about sex - therefore there's so much sex obsession and so many untreated neuroses, self-aggrandizing egoism the worst, and so many due to shame and depersonalization re: sex, e.g. sex canibalism, where else? agree with pepsionice observations, but German law is not shocked, it insists "everyone is free to their own interpretation of reality" regarding interpersonal relations. voila, no shared social mores, no references and people get lost.
02:09 February 18, 2012 by Redwing
What was the girl thinking watching such a channel? Did she expect performers in sex clubs to wear nuns' attire?
23:23 February 18, 2012 by PaulLL
I would like to meet and get to know the mom. I can already tell we have some important things in common and would get along fabulously. (No disrespect meant towards the dad.)

twitter@paul_stocks
10:56 February 19, 2012 by raandy
Redwing, just shows that the cherry doesn't fall to far from the tree.
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