Category Archives: Copyright

Artist sues Boat Dealer over Breach of License

12 Monday Sep 2016

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

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Pursuant to an agreement, Plaintiff created and applied artwork to a limited number of Defendant’s boats.

Defendant is alleged to have continued selling boats with substantially similar artwork outside the terms of the original license.

The Art of Design, Inc. v. Pontoon Boat, LLC et al

Court Case Number: 3:16-cv-00595-JVB-JEM
File Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Plaintiff: The Art Of Design, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: John D. LaDue, Sean J. Quinn of LaDue | Curran | Kuehn
Defendant: Pontoon Boat, LLC d/b/a Bennington and Bennington Marine, Hawkeye Boat Sales
Cause: Breach of Contract, Unjust Enrichment, Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition, Inducing Copyright Infringement, Violations of DMCA
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Joseph S. Van Bokkelen
Referred To: John E. Martin

Complaint:

Exhibit A:

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Rich Bell sues Aramark Corporation over unauthorized use of Indianapolis skyline photograph

29 Monday Aug 2016

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

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This time around Mr. Bell has snagged a big fish, the Aramark Corporation, specifically the Indianapolis branch of their Refreshment Services Division.

Somebody has unwisely used Mr. Bell’s skyline photograph on the Indianapolis branch’s website: http://www.aramarkrefreshments.com/webstore/nav/locations/Indianapolis.action

Use the “Richard Bell” tag at left to view his other litigation.

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Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-02291-SEB_MJD
File Date: Friday, August 26, 2016
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell of Bell Law Firm
Defendant: Aramark Corporation
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

Exhibit B (Screen Shot of Defendant’s website):

ZIG-ZAG looks to smoke out counterfeiters in Indiana

18 Thursday Aug 2016

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

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This is an anti-counterfeiting action against an extensive list of defendants who allegedly manufacture, import and sell counterfeit versions of Plaintiff’s ZIG-ZAG cigarette papers in Indiana.

As expected, the counterfeit products are “inferior, cheaper versions sold without any known quality control or authorization.”

Stopping counterfeiters is a difficult task and, as seen here, must often be done on a state-by-state basis.

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North Atlantic Operating Company, Inc. et al v. KPC Distributor Inc. et al

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-00307-PPS-SLC
File Date: Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Plaintiff: North Atlantic Operating Company, Inc.; National Tobacco Company, L.P.
Plaintiff Counsel: Gregory W. Pottorff, Adam Arceneaux of Ice Miller
Defendant: KPC Distributor Inc. et al.
Cause: Federal Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin, Trade Dress Infringement, Federal Copyright Infringement, Common Law Unfair Competition, Common Law Trademark Infringement
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Philip P. Simon
Referred To: Susan L. Collins

Complaint:

Horror film The Lazarus Effect accused of infringing Pro Se Plaintiff’s script

13 Monday Jun 2016

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

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Defendants, creators of a horror movie titled The Lazarus Effect (starring Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass), are accused of infringing the pro se Plaintiff’s literary work, Lazari Taxa. The Complaint doesn’t specify which copyrightable elements from Plaintiff’s manuscript were allegedly copied by the horror film.

Stay tuned for updates.

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Fillmore v. Blum et al.

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01423-SEB-MPB
File Date: Thursday, June 9, 2016
Plaintiff: Christopher “Chris” Wayne Fillmore
Plaintiff Counsel: Pro Se
Defendant: Jason Blum d/b/a Blumhouse Productions, Jeanette Brill, Luke Dawson, Matthew Kaplan d/b/a Chapter One Films, Robyn Marshall, Jimmy Miller d/b/a Mosaic Management, Rick Osaka d/b/a Catchlight Films, Jeremy Slater, Cody Zwieg d/b/a Supergravity Pictures, Does 1-10
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Matthew P. Brookman

Complaint:

Author dissatisfied with own cover art sues book publisher

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

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

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This dispute arises between an author and his book publisher. In addition to writing a book, the author also designed his own original artwork for the cover. After two rounds of artwork proofs, the publisher allegedly went ahead and published the book without the author’s final approval (the author had actually signed the final approval form but claims to have later redacted his approval via email…the full story is laid out in the Exhibits below).

The book publisher is alleged to have “knowingly published and printed Plaintiff’s Works even after Plaintiff made very clear to Defendant of his displeasure and dissatisfaction of the cover art for his Works as proposed by Defendant.”

In case you’re wondering, the VARA right of attribution – by which the author could prevent the use of his name in connection with a prejudicial modification of his work – doesn’t apply here due to the exception in 17 USC 106A(c)(3):

(3) The rights described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall not apply to any reproduction, depiction, portrayal, or other use of a work in, upon, or in any connection with any item described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of the definition of “work of visual art” in section 101

Here’s that section from 17 USC 101, my emphasis added:

(A)(i) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model, applied art, motion picture or other audiovisual work, book, magazine, newspaper, periodical, data base, electronic information service, electronic publication, or similar publication;

(ii) any merchandising item or advertising, promotional, descriptive, covering, or packaging material or container

Stay tuned for updates.

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Murdock v. Author Solutions, LLC

Court Case Number: 1:16-cv-01398-SEB-DML
File Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Plaintiff: Antara Murdock
Plaintiff Counsel: Mathew K. Higbee, Esq. of Higbee & Associates
Defendant: Author Solutions, LLC
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint:

Exhibits: