Bill Text: TX HB1877 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to civil and criminal liability for the disclosure of certain visual material on the Internet; creating a criminal offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-11 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB1877 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB1877-Introduced.html
84R10272 JRR-D | ||
By: Springer | H.B. No. 1877 |
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relating to civil and criminal liability for the disclosure of | ||
certain visual material on the Internet; creating a criminal | ||
offense. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is | ||
amended by adding Chapter 98B to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 98B. LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN VISUAL MATERIAL ON | ||
INTERNET | ||
Sec. 98B.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Intimate parts" means the naked genitals, pubic | ||
area, anus, buttocks, or female nipple of a person. | ||
(2) "Intimate visual material" means visual material | ||
that depicts a person: | ||
(A) with the person's intimate parts exposed; or | ||
(B) engaged in sexual conduct. | ||
(3) "Sexual conduct" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 43.25, Penal Code. | ||
(4) "Visual material" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 43.26, Penal Code. | ||
Sec. 98B.002. LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INTIMATE | ||
VISUAL MATERIAL ON INTERNET. A defendant is liable, as provided by | ||
this chapter, to a person depicted in intimate visual material for | ||
damages arising from the placement of the material on the Internet | ||
if the defendant intentionally engaged in conduct that violates | ||
Section 21.16, Penal Code, with respect to the material. | ||
Sec. 98B.003. DAMAGES. A claimant who prevails in a suit | ||
under this chapter is entitled to recover: | ||
(1) actual damages; | ||
(2) court costs; and | ||
(3) reasonable attorney's fees. | ||
Sec. 98B.004. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. A court in which a suit is | ||
brought under this chapter, on the motion of a party, may issue a | ||
temporary restraining order or a temporary or permanent injunction | ||
to restrain and prevent the placement of intimate visual material | ||
on the Internet with respect to the person depicted in the material. | ||
Sec. 98B.005. CAUSE OF ACTION CUMULATIVE. The cause of | ||
action created by this chapter is cumulative of any other remedy | ||
provided by common law or statute. | ||
Sec. 98B.006. LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION; | ||
CERTAIN CONDUCT EXCEPTED. (a) This chapter shall be liberally | ||
construed and applied to promote its underlying purpose to protect | ||
persons from, and provide adequate remedies to victims of, unlawful | ||
placement of intimate visual material on the Internet. | ||
(b) This chapter does not apply to a claim brought against | ||
an interactive computer service, as defined by 47 U.S.C. Section | ||
230, for conduct that consists only of a disclosure of intimate | ||
visual material provided by another person. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 21, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 21.16 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 21.16. UNLAWFUL DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN VISUAL MATERIAL | ||
ON INTERNET. (a) In this section: | ||
(1) "Intimate parts" means the naked genitals, pubic | ||
area, anus, buttocks, or female nipple of a person. | ||
(2) "Sexual conduct" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 43.25. | ||
(3) "Visual material" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 43.26. | ||
(b) A person commits an offense if: | ||
(1) the person intentionally causes emotional | ||
distress to another person by intentionally placing on the Internet | ||
visual material depicting the other person: | ||
(A) with the other person's intimate parts | ||
exposed; or | ||
(B) engaged in sexual conduct; | ||
(2) the person knows that the depicted person did not | ||
consent to the placement of the visual material on the Internet; | ||
(3) the visual material was obtained by the person or | ||
created under circumstances in which the depicted person had a | ||
reasonable expectation that the visual material would remain | ||
private; and | ||
(4) the placement of the visual material on the | ||
Internet, including any accompanying or subsequent information or | ||
material related to the visual material, reveals the identity of | ||
the depicted person in any manner, including by: | ||
(A) the content of the visual material; | ||
(B) information or material accompanying the | ||
visual material; or | ||
(C) information or material provided by a third | ||
party in response to the person's placement of the visual material | ||
on the Internet. | ||
(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that: | ||
(1) the visual material placed on the Internet depicts | ||
only a voluntary exposure of intimate parts or sexual conduct in a | ||
public or commercial setting; or | ||
(2) the actor is an interactive computer service, as | ||
defined by 47 U.S.C. Section 230, and the conduct consisted only of | ||
a disclosure of visual material provided by another person. | ||
(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third | ||
degree. | ||
SECTION 3. (a) Chapter 98B, Civil Practice and Remedies | ||
Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a cause of action that | ||
accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of | ||
action that accrues before the effective date of this Act is | ||
governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that | ||
law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
(b) Section 21.16, Penal Code, as added by this Act, applies | ||
to visual material placed on the Internet on or after the effective | ||
date of this Act, regardless of whether the visual material was | ||
obtained by the actor or created before, on, or after that date. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |