There is
a great piece on the
Slate Magazine website about whether the people who were tricked into appearing in the new
Borat movie,
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, can sue under a variety of legal claims. As the article notes, these people all had to sign the "standard release form" used by the entertainment industry. This agreement is basically a contract that prohibits people from suing the producer of the movie because they didn't like what movie did with their image. The article does a nice job explaining some of the potential legal claims that are barred by these release forms. The article ends with this question:
The release form seems to cover all the bases, but it's not clear if it precludes all legal action. A participant might claim that he was tricked into signing the contract under false pretenses.
An interesting question in light of the emphasis placed upon volition in determining whether a valid contract exists.
