Photographers getting paid what they’re owed by news organizations has always been an issue. Just ask Peter Parker.

WISH-TV, an Indianapolis-based local television station, is accused of copying a photograph of a New York garbage truck and reposting it to WISH-TV’s website/social media. The original photograph had been included in a NY Post article via a paid license. In addition to editing the photograph to overlay pictures of three sanitation workers, WISH-TV also cropped out the photographer’s attribution (see Complaint below).

Unable to negotiate a license fee, the photographer is now suing WISH-TV for copyright infringement and removal of the attribution.

If you want a photograph of a random New York garbage truck, either: a) take the photo yourself, b) pay someone to take the photo for you, c) pay someone who has already taken such a photo to use their photo, or d) use AI to create the photo because who will really know, it’s just a random garbage truck. Do not: e) find a photo on Google Images, crop out the photographer’s logo, and post it on your website.

The “news reporting” fair use defense likely won’t work for WISH-TV, because WISH-TV’s article was not reporting about this specific garbage truck but rather just took a random garbage truck photograph and used it in a story about sanitation worker overtime hours. If WISH-TV had been reporting about this particular garbage truck, or even the photographer, they might be able to claim a fair use defense, although they would still need to explain why the photographer’s attribution was cropped.

Stay tuned for updates.

Sadowski v. Circle City Broadcasting I, LLC d/b/a WISH-TV

Court Case Number: 1:24-cv-00324-JRS-TAB
File Date: February 21, 2024
Plaintiff: Christopher Sadowski
Plaintiff Counsel: Michael A. Swift of Maginot, Moore & Beck LLP
Defendant: Circle City Broadcasting I, LLC d/b/a WISH-TV
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Removal or Alteration of Copyright Management Information
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James R. Sweeney II
Referred To: Tim A. Baker

Complaint: