MADISON, Wis. — After one University of Wisconsin-Madison student tweeted concerns over an image of him being used for a marketing campaign, other students are now sharing similar experiences of feeling misled about how the university could use their likeness.
In the replies to this tweet, Mikey Morin shared his similar experiences with the student who made the tweet. He graduated from UW-Madison back in 2019.
“I actually saw it because one of my buddies liked the tweet. It just came up on my feed randomly,” said Morin “And it was this guy talking about how UW took a photo of him. He said, like, his neck was long and whatever. And he didn’t like the photo. I was laughing because for years, I was on the cover of wisc.edu, I was on the schedule planner, I was on brochures that they would hand out to incoming freshmen.”
Morin said he had no idea that his picture would have been published that broadly. Even though he said he wasn’t upset by his image, it took him by surprise.
The student who originally made the tweet didn’t speak with News 3 Now on camera. However, the university told News 3 Now over email that the image that the student used was from a marketing campaign from years ago.
The university said the campaign ended in 2020 and the poster should have been removed. The university said it’s likely it remained up longer than it should have because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
At UW-Madison, and at many universities and schools across the country, students sign forms for consent to their image getting used. UW-Madison’s photography policy is outlined here. Additionally, UW-Madison students sign this form when the university uses their likenesses.
“They’re allowed to take photos of you on campus, they’re allowed to use it for whatever they want,” said Morin. “That’s kind of what they did.”
In an online form, the student in the tweet said he was a strategic communications major, he was part of the student radio station and that he loved ice cream. Answering those questions and signing the form, and signing a talent release form, allowed the university to phrase his answers however it wanted.
“I’m sure if they just asked him and said ‘Do you want ice cream aficionado for your quote?’ He’d probably have been like, ‘No, no, no, “‘ said Morin.
The university said it was unaware this poster was still up in the library and had since reached out to have it removed. The university said it also let the former student know that his post made the university aware of it still being used as an advertisement.
In Morin’s case, this situation turned into a conversation about just how far the university can go when students agree to letting them use their photo, proving that when it’s on the dotted line, it might end up being out there for a long time.
“If somebody is reading these forms through that’s good for you, but like, that’s not me,” said Morin.
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