I am not an IP attorney and my knowledge of fair use is minimal. So I won’t comment on the merits of Craig v. Pop Matters Media Inc. in the Southern District of New York which involves publication of a photograph.

But I don’t think you need to be an ethics attorney or an attorney at all to know you generally need your client to be a client and to know that they’re a client before filing a lawsuit on their behalf and then litigating it for two years and then having it dismissed with a petition for attorney’s fees made against you.

If you don’t know whether you have authority to file a lawsuit, you likely don’t have authority. I realize this is fifth grade level stuff (but it looks like I’ll get to add fifth grade homeschool teacher to my CV next year so I might as well), but just please don’t file lawsuits without the client’s permission, okay?