This new copyright lawsuit is a refile of the recently-terminated January lawsuit between two Chinese corporations, now also naming an individual defendant living in Hong Kong. The lawsuit involves alleged infringing sales on Amazon.com of a knockoff of plaintiff’s “Diamond Tile,” a square or rectangular wall panel having a three-dimensional design formed by various diamond-like elements.
Guangzhou Shima Decoration Materials Co., Ltd v. Shenzhen Ruimingxiang Technology Co., Ltd. et al.
Court Case Number: 1:24-cv-00644-JRS-MG File Date: April 11, 2024 Plaintiff: Guangzhou Shima Decoration Materials Co., Ltd Plaintiff Counsel: Michael A. Swift, Harold C. Moore, Travis W. Baxter of Maginot, Moore & Beck, LLP Defendant: Shenzhen Ruimingxiang Technology Co., Ltd., Shi Lei Cause: Copyright Infringement Court: Southern District of Indiana Judge: James R. Sweeney II Referred To: Mario Garcia
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
Happy New Year! Here’s a bit of an oddball case to kick off Indiana intellectual property litigation in 2024. Both parties in this copyright lawsuit are Chinese corporations, but the defendant apparently does business in Indiana. The defendant is alleged to have infringed the plaintiff’s copyright in a “Diamond Tile,” a square or rectangular wall panel having a three-dimensional design formed by various diamond-like elements. The defendant’s sales of the allegedly infringing wall panels took place on Amazon.com.
The Complaint is relatively short, just 4 pages, and has no specifically defined cause, although it seems to be for copyright infringement. We’ll be interested to learn more about the defendant’s relationship with Indiana as the lawsuit progresses. Presumably either the infringing wall panels are manufactured in Indiana or are distributed by Amazon from Indiana.
Here is the plaintiff’s wall panel design:
And here is the defendant’s design:
What do you think? Are the designs substantially similar?
Court Case Number: 1:24-cv-00041-RLY-TAB File Date: January 8, 2024 Plaintiff: Guangzhou Shima Decoration Materials Co., Ltd Plaintiff Counsel: Michael A. Swift, Harold C. Moore, Travis W. Baxter of Maginot, Moore & Beck, LLP Defendant: Shenzhen Ruimingxiang Technology Co., Ltd. Cause: Copyright Infringement Court: Southern District of Indiana Judge: Richard L. Young Referred To: Tim A. Baker
It seems we can’t go more than a few days without a new photography copyright lawsuit in Indiana. The defendant this time is a Carmel, Indiana-based Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Real. They apparently used one of the plaintiff’s photographs of noodles, which I’m guessing they found on Google Images, on their restaurant’s website without authorization.
Businesses, you should prioritize an immediate audit of your company’s website to determine whether you have authority (via ownership, license, fair use, etc.) to use every photograph. If not, even if it’s just a blurry partial photo, it seems that your use could quickly become the subject of a federal copyright lawsuit.
Matsumoto v. Pho Real LLC
Court Case Number: 1:23-cv-02059-SEB-KMB File Date: November 15, 2023 Plaintiff: Shoichi Matsumoto Plaintiff Counsel: Jay Campbell Miller of SRIPLAW, P.A. Defendant: Pho Real LLC Cause: Copyright Infringement Court: Southern District of Indiana Judge: Sarah Evans Barker Referred To: Kellie M. Barr
Here’s yet another photography lawsuit where a company is alleged to have used a photograph without authorization. The defendant this time is a Deputy, Indiana grower/manufacturer of Indiana hardwood products.
All companies should immediately prioritize reviewing their website to confirm ownership, approval, or other legal authority (e.g. fair use) for EVERY photograph. Otherwise, AI image searches will eventually find the unauthorized use and a copyright lawsuit will always be just around the corner. Using Google Images to find photographs for a website is never a good idea.
Stross v. Homestead Properties, Inc.
Court Case Number: 4:23-cv-00183-TWP-KMB File Date: November 9, 2023 Plaintiff: Alexander Bayonne Stross Plaintiff Counsel: J. Campbell Miller of SRIPLAW, P.A. Defendant: Homestead Properties, Inc. dba Tiny Timbers Cause: Copyright Infringement, Removal of Copyright Management Information Court: Southern District of Indiana Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt Referred To: Kellie M. Barr
Indiana Intellectual Property Blog 