Category Archives: Copyright

Fishers Landscape Design Company sued over Bocce Ball Court Photograph

18 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana

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Here’s yet another copyright lawsuit involving the unauthorized use of a photograph on a website.

The Defendant, Vive Exterior Design, is a landscape design company headquartered in Fishers, Indiana. Vive is alleged to have used the Plaintiff’s photograph of a bocce ball court in the portfolio section of its website, www.viveexterior.com. The Plaintiff first sought to recover a standard license fee for use of the photograph via an intellectual property management company called Image Rights. When Image Rights was unsuccessful, Plaintiff’s counsel became involved but apparently never received a response from Vive. As such, Vive now has a federal copyright lawsuit to defend.

Settlement is the most likely outcome, but perhaps Vive has a valid defense for using the Plaintiff’s photograph. Stay tuned for updates.

Corson v. Vive Exterior Design, LLC et al

Case Number: 1:22-cv-00127-RLY-MG
File Date: January 17, 2022
Plaintiff: Lisa Corson
Plaintiff Counsel: Mathew K. Higbee, Naomi M. Sarega of Higbee & Associates
Defendant: Vive Exterior Design, LLC, Does 1-10
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Richard L. Young
Referred To: Mario Garcia

Complaint:

Mid-January 2022 Indiana Intellectual Property Litigation Update

14 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana, Trademark

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Happy New Year. The last month was quiet for trademark and copyright litigation in Indiana, with only two new filings and numerous deadline extensions. However, there were a few interesting filings in ongoing cases. Noble Roman’s has filed a lengthy Response and Reply. Delta continues to pursue a Default Judgment against an online counterfeiter that continues to operate. The Triple LLL trademark lawsuit was settled with a Consent Judgment. Read on below and stay tuned for updates.

Noble Roman’s, Inc. v. Gateway Triangle Corp. et al. (SD, filed 2/5/2021) – On January 6, 2022, Noble Roman’s filed its Response in Opposition to Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and Reply in Support of Summary Judgment on Abuse of Process Counterclaim.

Delta Faucet Company v. Iakovlev et al. (SD, filed 3/25/2021) – On December 14, 2021, Delta submitted a Status Update regarding their Motion for Default Judgment. There is still no ruling.

Triple LLL Truck Repair, Inc. v. Triple LLL, Inc. et al. (ND, filed 4/26/2021) – The parties filed a Consent Judgment on December 17, 2021 and the lawsuit was dismissed on December 21, 2021.

Sears Authorized Hometown Stores, LLC v. Lynn Retails, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 6/4/2021) – The parties’ discovery deadline has been extended via joint motion until March 18, 2022.

Noble Roman’s, Inc. v. AMI Stores Management, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 6/6/2021) – The parties’ discovery deadlines have been extended via motion.

Phoenix Intangibles Holding Company et al. v. Virk Brothers, LLC et al. (ND, filed 7/9/2021) – No update this month.

AWGI, LLC et al. v. CLD Trucking Co. d/b/a Atlas Moving Systems AMS (SD, filed 7/22/2021) – No update this month.

RE/MAX, LLC et al. v. Dulin et al. (SD, filed 8/24/2021) – The Plaintiffs’ discovery deadline has been extended to February 9, 2022.

Forest River, Inc. v. inTech Trailers, Inc. (ND, filed 8/31/2021) – The parties now have a deadline of January 31, 2022 to name a mediator.

Thomas v. ooShirts, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 9/24/2021) – Notice of settlement was filed by the Court and the parties have until July 1, 2022 to file dismissal documents.

Edutainment Live, LLC v. Video Game Palooza et al. (SD, filed 10/11/2021) – The Defendants filed an Answer on January 3, 2022. Defendants are represented by J. Richard Moore of Bleeke Dillon Crandall, P.C.

Indiana University Health, Inc et al. v. Thomas A. Brady Sports Medicine Center, P.C. (SD, filed 11/1/2021) – No update this month.

Alcorn v. COTR, LLC (SD, filed 11/22/2021) – An Initial Pretrial Conference is scheduled on February 8, 2022.

Innovative Sports Management Inc. v. La Jalisco LLP (SD, filed 12/15/2021) – No update yet.

AWGI LLC et al. v. Doe (SD, filed 1/7/2022) – No update yet.

December 2021 Updates

Indianapolis Mexican Restaurant sued for Piracy over 2018 Alvarez v. Fielding Boxing Match

16 Thursday Dec 2021

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Indianapolis, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana

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Here’s more support for a copyright small claims court. Indianapolis-based Mexican restaurant La Jalisco is being sued for copyright infringement and piracy after allegedly showing (without authorization, obviously) a Canelo Alvarez vs. Rocky Fielding boxing match in their west-side restaurant on December 15, 2018.

For non-boxing fans, Alvarez is currently ESPN.com’s #1 “Pound-for-Pound” boxer (for comparison, the legendary “Gypsy King” Tyson Fury ranks #5). So, while 3 years ago, it was a big Saturday night fight.

Consider what a restaurant has to pay to properly show a fight. A few hundred dollars at most, probably closer to one hundred, and definitely less than the $600 filing fee for a federal lawsuit. Certainly less than the $150,000 statutory damages sought by the plaintiff. The Complaint (below) doesn’t reference any settlement communications between the parties, but you have to think that the defendants were given an opportunity to settle by paying a reasonable license fee at one point.

On the other hand, if La Jalisco didn’t show the fight, they didn’t show the fight. There are usually two sides to every story, so stay tuned for the Defendants’ response.

Innovative Sports Management Inc. v. La Jalisco LLP

Case Number: 1:21-cv-03040-TWP-MG
File Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Plaintiff: Innovative Sports Management Inc., d/b/a Integrated Sports Media
Plaintiff Counsel: Ryan R. Janis of Jekielek & Janis LLP
Defendant: La Jalisco LLP d/b/a Taqueria Jalisco a/k/a Jalisco Restaurant Bar, Joan Brito, Victoria A. Morales
Cause: Satellite and Cable Piracy, Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Mario Garcia

Complaint:

Mid-December 2021 Indiana Intellectual Property Litigation Update

15 Wednesday Dec 2021

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana, Trade Dress, Trademark

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IP litigators must have started celebrating the holidays early, as it’s been a very quiet month for intellectual property lawsuits in Indiana. Only one new lawsuit was filed, a copyright case involving a single photograph used by Chicks on the Right in an online news article back in 2019. We did get some big news yesterday that Methodist Sports Medicine has decided to change its name to Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics, yet we’ll have to wait to see how the name change will impact the pending lawsuit.

Many cases just received time extensions, saving their fight for the new year.

Happy holidays from the Indiana Intellectual Property Blog. See you in January for next month’s updates.

Noble Romans, Inc. v. Gateway Triangle Corp. et al. (SD, filed 2/5/2021) – The filing deadline for outstanding filings has been extended from December 9, 2021 to January 6, 2022.

Delta Faucet Company v. Iakovlev et al. (SD, filed 3/25/2021) – No update this month.

Triple LLL Truck Repair, Inc. v. Triple LLL, Inc. et al. (ND, filed 4/26/2021) – After two short extensions, dismissal papers are now due by December 17, 2021.

Sears Authorized Hometown Stores, LLC v. Lynn Retails, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 6/4/2021) – A Protective Order was entered on December 9, 2021.

Noble Roman’s, Inc. v. AMI Stores Management, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 6/6/2021) – On December 2, 2021, the parties filed a joint motion to extend Court-ordered pretrial deadlines. The motion was denied without prejudice because the motion failed to show good cause for the extension.

Phoenix Intangibles Holding Company et al. v. Virk Brothers, LLC et al. (ND, filed 7/9/2021) – The Scheduling Order was amended to extend discovery deadlines.

AWGI, LLC et al. v. CLD Trucking Co. d/b/a Atlas Moving Systems AMS (SD, filed 7/22/2021) – On November 19, 2021, the Plaintiffs filed a Motion to Enforce Judgment seeking transfer of internet domains and social media accounts.

RE/MAX, LLC et al. v. Dulin et al. (SD, filed 8/24/2021) – On December 8, 2021, the Defendants filed a motion requesting until January 11, 2022 to respond to Plaintiff’s Discovery Request.

Forest River, Inc. v. inTech Trailers, Inc. (ND, filed 8/31/2021) – An Amended Complaint was filed on December 9, 2021 and the Answer to Amended Complaint was filed on December 12, 2021.

Thomas v. ooShirts, Inc. et al. (SD, filed 9/24/2021) – Attorney Kelly V. Milam filed an appearance on behalf of defendant ooShirts, Inc. on November 23, 2021.

Edutainment Live, LLC v. Video Game Palooza et al. (SD, filed 10/11/2021) – The Defendants’ attorneys filed appearances on December 8, 2021.

Indiana University Health, Inc et al. v. Thomas A. Brady Sports Medicine Center, P.C. (SD, filed 11/1/2021) – No update yet.

Alcorn v. COTR, LLC (SD, filed 11/22/2021) – No update yet.

November 2021 Updates

October 2021 Updates

September 2021 Updates

August 2021 Updates

July 2021 Updates

June 2021 Updates

May 2021 Updates

April 2021 Updates

Chicks on the Right sued over unauthorized use of Topless Selfie Teacher Photo

29 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by in Copyright, Fashion, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana

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Here’s another copyright lawsuit that supports the argument for a copyright small claims court.

The plaintiff is a New York-based professional photographer who owns the registered copyright in a photograph of Lauren Miranda, a New York teacher fired over a topless selfie. Mrs. Miranda was subsequently awarded $3 million in a gender discrimination lawsuit over the firing.

The defendant, Chicks on the Right, an Indianapolis-based politically conservative online news radio show and website, allegedly used the plaintiff’s photograph of Mrs. Miranda in an April 2019 blog post reporting on the teacher’s gender discrimination lawsuit (note: the plaintiff filed for registration of the photograph on June 30, 2019, almost 3 months after the blog post). While the defendant might be hoping to rely on a “news reporting” fair use defense, unfortunately there’s really no “fair use” reason to use the plaintiff’s specific photograph. Numerous images of Mrs. Miranda exist that could have been used (with proper authorization), and the Chicks on the Right blog post isn’t commenting, criticizing, or reporting on the plaintiff’s actual image. Having an online “news blog” isn’t a free pass to use any photograph you find on Google Images.

The reality is that professional photographers take lots of photos for a living, and sell only few. Perhaps political differences kept this dispute from reaching a simple non-litigious monetary resolution. Now, we can expect technicalities about the actual photograph’s ownership, registration or use to be explored in the defendant’s response or discovery.

On one hand, the Chicks on the Right, who likely use photographs for news articles on a daily basis, should be in the habit of verifying the source of every photograph they post on their blog. Presumably, in this specific instance two years ago, someone just got lazy or quick and grabbed the wrong photograph off the internet.

On the other hand, there’s simply no reason a U.S. Federal Court and esteemed judges like Jane Magnus-Stinson and Debra McVicker Lynch, already overloaded with significant legal disputes, should be dealing with a copyright lawsuit over one photograph (of a person most people have never heard of) used on a single “news” blog post. Statutory damages for a single non-willful infringement would be $750, almost certainly less than the plaintiff spent on preparing and filing this lawsuit, and definitely less than the Court has to expend in processing the dispute. You can’t blame the plaintiff though; currently, they have no other alternative legal option than federal court for a photography copyright dispute. Time will tell if there’s better way to handle such disputes.

Note that the allegedly infringing image no longer appears on the defendant’s website as of the posting of this blog (11/29/21).

By the way, go do a Google search for Lauren Miranda’s attorney. Sharp dresser. So much so, I’m giving this post a “Fashion” tag.

Stay tuned for updates.

Alcorn v. COTR, LLC

File Date: November 22, 2021
Plaintiff: Victor Alcorn
Plaintiff Counsel: Craig B. Sanders, Esq.
Defendant: COTR, LLC
Cause: Direct Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint: