Comedian Cong Ly expressed his displeasure after a publishing house issued a law book using a photoshopped picture of him, nearly in the buff, on the cover.
Civil Code and Implementation Guidelines 2014
The newly-published book, Civil Code and Implementation Guidelines 2014, was issued by Labour Publishing House with 1,000 copies. The cover is a curious image of a smiling man in his underwear holding what appears to be the balance scales of justice. In reality, the man is a comedian named Cong Ly.
"I've heard the news, but haven't seen the picture yet. I don't think it's right for a publisher to use a picture of me without my permission. They are using my image to sell their products without consideration on the impact to my image. Some might get the impression that I sold that picture for money," said Cong Ly.
He went on to say that he would appreciate a cooperative attitude from the publisher in resolving the issue, such as a public apology. "I want to know how many copies of this book have been withdrawn and what their plan is for buying back the rest," he said.
Comedian Cong Ly
On November 17, Nguyen Huy Chanh, a representative of Labour Publishing House, said they discovered the mistake several months ago and immediately attempted to recover the copies. However, for some reason, some are still being sold in bookstores in the South. "Most copies have been recovered, but after hearing the story in the media, we'll do our best to comb through store inventories to get back any missing copies," he said, adding, "We apologise and have assigned employees to oversee this process."
Chanh said that the company would have to review the printing before giving any further public statements.
