'Sexting' and the law: 15 minutes of fame, and a lifetime of shame

Sexting - the electronic communication of non-professional images or videos portraying one or more persons in a state of nudity or otherwise in a sexual manner - may have serious implications for the persons involved. From a legal perspective, such conduct may, for example, give rise to issues under defamation law, privacy law and copyright law. Even more seriously, where the content portrays a person who is underage, the sender, receiver and any intermediary involved in the communication can be charged with child pornography offences under criminal law. This paper examines some of the legal implications of sexting.