Baek Ji Young Wins Second Lawsuit Against A Plastic Surgery Clinic

Baek Ji Young, known to kdrama fans as "The Queen of the Ost," was recently awarded partial damages in her second lawsuit against a plastic surgery clinic. The lawsuit sought financial damages because her photograph was used without her permission to advertise plastic surgery services.

In this case, the Seoul Central District Court ordered the surgeon to pay Baek Ji Young $3,600 for using photographs of her in a bikini to promote his liposuction services. The photos were taken without permission from her online shopping site.  The singer had originally asked for ten times the amount of the financial award, but the court lowered the damages to $3,600.

Only last month, Baek Ji Young and actress Nam Gyuri also won partial damages in a similar case because their photos were used to promote another cosmetic surgery clinic. In that case, the Seoul Central District Court awarded each actress about $4,000 in damages.

"Using their photos without consent could diminish the value of their work as models," ruled the court.

A business cannot use a celebrity's image or their names to promote itself without getting their permission beforehand. Anyone who does so will likely have to pay damages to the person whose image you used. Such celebrities are usually paid highly for the use of their photographs or endorsements.

Using a celebrity's image on a cosmetic surgery site also implies that the celebrities in question have had surgery, which in most cases they have not. This can damage a celebrity's image.

But celebrities don't always win such lawsuits against clinics. It has to be proven that the clinic posted the photograph and not someone visiting the site. Only a week before Baek Ji Young's first case was resolved, actor Jang Dong Gun, the star of "A Gentleman's Dignity" lost a lawsuit against another plastic surgeon for using his picture when the court decided the photograph was not intentionally posted. Currently, Wonder Girls, members of Girls' Generation and actress Su Ae are also suing a Gangnam dentist for using their photos and names without their permission.

Baek Ji Young contributed songs to the "Iris," "Secret Garden" and "Gu Family Book" soundtracks. Last month she married actor Jung Suk Won. The bride was expecting when the couple married but she lost the baby to a miscarriage a few weeks later. She recently made her first post-miscarriage appearance when she attended the premiere of Lee Byung Hun's film, "Red 2" with her husband.