CIV § 1708.85

California Civil Code § 1708.85 - Distributing intimate images without consent

Civil Code § 1708.85 gives a California private right of action against a person who intentionally distributes intimate images without consent, with injunctive relief.

Official text CIV § 1708.85 — California

(a) A private cause of action lies against a person who intentionally distributes by any means a photograph, film, videotape, recording, or any other reproduction of another, without the other’s consent, if (1) the person knew, or reasonably should have known, that the other person had a reasonable expectation that the material would remain private, (2) the distributed material exposes an intimate body part of the other person, or shows the other person engaging in an act of intercourse, oral copulation, sodomy, or other act of sexual penetration, and (3) the other person suffers general or special damages as described in Section 48a.

(b) As used in this section, “intimate body part” means any portion of the genitals, and, in the case of a female, also includes any portion of the breast below the top of the areola, that is uncovered or visible through less than fully opaque clothing.

(c) There shall be no liability on the part of the person distributing material under subdivision (a) under any of the following circumstances:

(1) The distributed material was created under an agreement by the person appearing in the material for its public use and distribution or otherwise intended by that person for public use and distribution.

(2) The person possessing or viewing the distributed material has permission from the person appearing in the material to publish by any means or post the material on an internet website.

(3) The person appearing in the material waived any reasonable expectation of privacy in the distributed material by making it accessible to the general public.

(4) The distributed material constitutes a matter of public concern.

(5) The distributed material was photographed, filmed, videotaped, recorded, or otherwise reproduced in a public place and under circumstances in which the person depicted had no reasonable expectation of privacy.

(6) The distributed material was previously distributed by another person, unless the plaintiff served on the defendant, by certified mail, a notice to cease distribution of the material, and the defendant failed to cease distribution within 20 days of receiving the notice.

(d) In addition to any other relief available at law, the court may order equitable relief against the person violating subdivision (a), including a temporary restraining order, or a preliminary injunction or a permanent injunction ordering the defendant to cease distribution of material. The court may grant injunctive relief maintaining the confidentiality of a plaintiff using a pseudonym as provided in subdivision (f).

(e) The court may also grant, after holding a properly noticed hearing, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing plaintiff.

(f) (1) A plaintiff in a civil proceeding pursuant to subdivision (a), may proceed using a pseudonym, either John Doe, Jane Doe, or Doe, for the true name of the plaintiff and may exclude or redact from all pleadings and documents filed in the action other identifying characteristics of the plaintiff. A plaintiff who proceeds using a pseudonym and excluding or redacting identifying characteristics as provided in this section shall file with the court and serve upon the defendant a confidential information form for this purpose that includes the plaintiff’s name and other identifying characteristics excluded or redacted. The court shall keep the plaintiff’s name and excluded or redacted characteristics confidential.

(2) In cases where a plaintiff proceeds using a pseudonym under this section, the following provisions shall apply: (A) All other parties and their agents and attorneys shall use this pseudonym in all pleadings, discovery documents, and other documents filed or served in the action, and at hearings, trial, and other court proceedings that are open to the public. (B) (i) Any party filing a pleading, discovery document, or other document in the action shall exclude or redact any identifying characteristics of the plaintiff from the pleading, discovery document, or other document, except for a confidential information form filed pursuant to this subdivision.

(ii) A party excluding or redacting identifying characteristics as provided in this section shall file with the court and serve upon all other parties a confidential information form that includes the plaintiff’s name and other identifying characteristics excluded or redacted. The court shall keep the plaintiff’s name and excluded or redacted characteristics confidential. (C) All court decisions, orders, petitions, discovery documents, and other documents shall be worded so as to protect the name or other identifying characteristics of the plaintiff from public revelation.

(3) The following definitions apply to this subdivision: (A) “Identifying characteristics” means name or any part thereof, address or any part thereof, city or unincorporated area of residence, age, marital status, relationship to defendant, and race or ethnic background, telephone number, email address, social media profiles, online identifiers, contact information, or any other information, including images of the plaintiff, from which the plaintiff’s identity can be discerned. (B) “Online identifiers” means any personally identifying information or signifiers that would tie an individual to a particular electronic service, device, or Internet application, website, or platform account, including, but not limited to, access names, access codes, account names, aliases, avatars, credentials, gamer tags, display names, handles, login names, member names, online identities, pseudonyms, screen names, user accounts, user identifications, usernames, Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), domain names, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and media access control (MAC) addresses.

(4) The responsibility for excluding or redacting the name or identifying characteristics of the plaintiff from all documents filed with the court rests solely with the parties and their attorneys. Nothing in this section requires the court to review pleadings or other papers for compliance with this provision.

(5) Upon request of the plaintiff, the clerk shall allow access to the court file in an action filed under this section only as follows: (A) To a party to the action, including a party’s attorney. (B) To a person by order of the court on a showing of good cause for access. (C) To any person 60 days after judgment is entered unless the court grants a plaintiff’s motion to seal records pursuant to Chapter 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the California Rules of Court.

(g) In an action pursuant to this section, the plaintiff shall state in the caption of the complaint “ACTION BASED ON CIVIL CODE SECTION 1708.85.” (h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or negate any rights, obligations, or immunities of an interactive service provider under Section 230 of Title 47 of the United States Code. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or preclude a plaintiff from securing or recovering any other available remedy.

(i) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

(j) The Judicial Council shall, on or before January 1, 2019, adopt or revise as appropriate rules and forms in order to implement subdivision (f).

Text as published in the 2026 snapshot of the code.

Source: Vaquill Open US Law, compiled from official state publishers (huggingface.co), reproduced under license CC BY 4.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

Section 1708.85 creates a private cause of action against a person who intentionally distributes, by any means, a photograph, film, videotape, recording or other reproduction of another without that person's consent. Three elements must be shown under subdivision (a): the distributor knew or reasonably should have known that the other person had a reasonable expectation that the material would remain private; the material exposes an intimate body part, or shows the person engaging in an act of intercourse, oral copulation, sodomy or other act of sexual penetration; and the person suffers general or special damages as described in § 48a. Subdivision (b) defines "intimate body part" as any portion of the genitals and, for a female, any portion of the breast below the top of the areola, uncovered or visible through less than fully opaque clothing.

The fact that the image was originally taken with consent is not a defence. What subdivision (a) turns on is the expectation that the material would stay private, which is exactly the position of images shared inside a relationship. Subdivision (c) lists six situations where there is no liability: the material was created under an agreement for public use or otherwise intended by the person for public distribution; the distributor had permission from the person appearing in it to publish or post it; the person waived any reasonable expectation of privacy by making it accessible to the general public; the material is a matter of public concern; it was recorded in a public place in circumstances with no reasonable expectation of privacy; or it had previously been distributed by another person — that last one only until the plaintiff serves a certified-mail notice to cease and the defendant fails to stop within 20 days.

Subdivision (d) allows equitable relief in addition to any other remedy, including a temporary restraining order and preliminary or permanent injunction ordering the material removed. The section also contains provisions allowing a plaintiff to proceed under a pseudonym. Taking action quickly, and preserving evidence of the distribution, are matters to discuss with a lawyer.

When it applies

An ex-partner posts private photographs online after a break-up
Images shared in a private message are forwarded to other people
Photographs sent inside a relationship uploaded to a public site
A stranger re-posting material somebody else put up
You want the material taken down rather than money
You are worried about your name appearing in a court file

What this section does not say

Consent to the photograph is not consent to distribution. The section turns on the reasonable expectation that the material would remain private, not on who took it.
It does not cover every unwanted image. Subdivision (a)(2) requires the material to expose an intimate body part as defined, or to show a listed sexual act.
Someone else having posted it first is not a permanent defence. Subdivision (c)(6) protects a later distributor only until a certified-mail notice to cease is served and 20 days pass.
It is not the criminal case. Non-consensual distribution can also be an offence under the Penal Code, prosecuted by the state; this section is the civil claim brought by the person depicted.
It does not remove content by itself. Subdivision (d) requires a court order for equitable relief; the section is not a takedown procedure operated against a platform.

Worked examples

Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.

Illustrative example

After a relationship ends, one person posts private photographs of the other on a public site. The photographs were taken with consent inside the relationship, and the person depicted wants them gone rather than money.

How the wording applies

Consent to a photograph being taken is not consent to its distribution, and the section turns on whether there was a reasonable expectation that the material would remain private. The remedy matters as much as the right: subdivision (d) means a takedown comes from a court order for equitable relief, not from the section operating against a platform by itself.

How the parties settled it

The person who posted the material removes it from every account within a short fixed period, confirms deletion of the underlying files in writing, and agrees not to distribute or discuss the material further.

Illustrative example

Someone forwards an intimate image received in a private message to a group chat, and from there it spreads to people neither of them knows.

How the wording applies

Against the first forwarder the fact it hinges on is the expectation of privacy attached to a one-to-one message. Against those further down the chain, subdivision (c)(6) protects a later distributor only until a notice to cease is served by certified mail and 20 days pass, so their position changes once they are put on notice.

How the parties settled it

The forwarder writes to each recipient asking for deletion, confirms the message is removed from the group, and pays the cost of a takedown service, with the matter closed on completion.

How courts have read it

Decisions construing this provision. The question and the summary are ours; the quoted sentence is the court's own words, taken from the published opinion. These are the decisions in our corpus, not every decision there is, and nothing here predicts any other case. Reported 1991 to 2017.

Doe v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 3 Cal. App. 5th 915 (2016)

Court of Appeal

What the court had to decide

Did the superior court err by ordering the disclosure of the plaintiff's true name after the court itself mistakenly posted the confidential form MC-125 online?

What it held

The superior court's order was improper because the court's own mistake does not waive the plaintiff's statutory right to proceed pseudonymously; the court must comply with section 1708.85(f)(1) to keep the name confidential.

In the court's words

This would defeat the objective of the Legislature in adopting section 1708.85.

Source: Caselaw Access Project, CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication).

Related sections

CIV § 1708 No contract needed: CIV § 1708 duty to not injure CIV § 3333 Full Compensation for All Detriment Caused | CIV § 3333 CIV § 3344 $750 minimum damages for commercial use: CIV § 3344

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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.

This page reproduces the text of CIV § 1708.85 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in California.

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