I was going to look into this more after I found this article a few years ago but I still haven't done any further research on it. I believe in New York at least a persons image could have been used without their permission for advertising or trade purposes if it was from a picture that was in the possession of the lithographer or advertising company prior to the 1905 law.
October 30 1908
permission to use pictures Fri__Oct_30__1908_.jpg