Tag Archives: Copyright Infringement

BMI sues Terre Haute Bar for Copyright Infringement

07 Thursday Apr 2022

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

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It has been awhile since BMI last filed an infringement lawsuit in Indiana. Their target this time around is The Verve, a music club and cocktail bar in Terre Haute, Indiana.

BMI allegedly reached out to the Defendants over sixty (60) times since March 2018 in an attempt to sell her the required public performance license. Accordingly, BMI now brings a lawsuit with 6 claims of copyright infringement based on the following playlist being performed at The Verve without a license on April 29, 2019:

These BMI lawsuits never end well for the venue, so hopefully a federal lawsuit will finally get the Defendants’ attention and an appropriate license can be purchased to resolve the conflict.

Stay tuned for updates.

Broadcast Music, Inc. et al. v. Warehouse L.L.C. d/b/a The Verve et al.

Case Number: 2:22-cv-00136-JPH-DLP
File Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Plaintiff: Broadcast Music, Inc.; Peermusic III Ltd.; Universal- Songs of Polygram International, Inc.; Songs of Universal, Inc.; EMI Consortium Songs, Inc. d/b/a EMI Longitude Music; Fourteenth Hour Music Inc.; Springtime Music, Inc.; EMI Blackwood Music, Inc.; Sony/ATV Songs LLC; Fall Out Boy Inc. d/b/a Chicago X Softcore Songs
Plaintiff Counsel: April A. Wimberg of Dentons Bingham Greenebaum
Defendant: Warehouse L.L.C. d/b/a The Verve, Connie Wrin
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: Doris L. Pryor

Complaint:

Florida Husband/Wife Marketing Team Sued in Indiana for Stealing Etsy Artwork and Selling it as their Own

05 Tuesday Apr 2022

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

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The Defendants, a Florida husband/wife marketing team, are accused of purchasing digital artwork from Plaintiff’s Etsy site and then selling it on their own website as their own work and intellectual property. The Plaintiff is an artist from Guilford, Indiana (home of the historic Guilford Covered Bridge). In addition to Plaintiff, the Defendants are alleged to have used artwork from numerous creators without authorization.

The Defendants’ own Terms of Use from their website are referenced in the Complaint (below) as evidence of their understanding (and thus willful violation) of copyright law. The Defendants are further alleged to have removed the metadata from the Plaintiff’s image files, which could support a claim of “Removal or Alteration of Copyright Management Information” although that wasn’t included in the initial Complaint. The Complaint also details unsuccessful attempted communications between Plaintiff’s counsel and the Defendants.

Damages for willful copyright infringement can be severe, up to $150,000 per infringement. If the Defendants are truly serial infringers as alleged, the Court could easily decide to grant the maximum damages award. The Defendants could also be required to pay Plaintiff’s costs and attorneys’ fees, likely a hefty amount in itself.

Stay tuned for updates.

Mapes v. Top Tier Marketers LLC d/b/a Artfily et al.

Case Number: 1:22-cv-00674-JMS-DLP
File Date: Monday, April 4, 2022
Plaintiff: Tara Mapes
Plaintiff Counsel: Michelle L. Casper, Rachael L. Rodman of Ulmer & Berne LLP
Defendant: Top Tier Marketers LLC d/b/a Artfily, Meagan Broadwater, Dean Broadwater
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Doris L. Pryor

Complaint:

Mailbox Drone Manufacturer Invites Copyright Infringement Lawsuit by Stealing Product Photographs from Competitor

17 Thursday Jun 2021

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

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The Plaintiff in this lawsuit is an Illinois-based manufacturer of smart mailboxes and customized mail delivery drones.

Unfortunately, this copyright infringement lawsuit doesn’t involve the very interesting mailbox and drone technology but instead focuses on two photographs of Plaintiff’s product. The Defendants, a competing drone mailbox company from Indianapolis, allegedly copied the product photographs, make slight modifications to remove Plaintiff’s identifiers, and included the altered photographs in its own presentation materials, including at a major industry trade show.

Reviewing the images included in the Complaint (below), it certainly seems like these are fairly blatant, and slightly ridiculous, instances of copyright infringement. The Complaint also alleges several other claims based on the Defendants’ alleged attempts to “unfairly advance and promote the commercial identity, status and reputation of the Defendant Companies, to solicit the sale of their products and services to customers and potential customers, and to solicit investors, potential investors and partners, in competition with Plaintiff.”

I’m looking forward to the Defendants’ Answer and their possible explanation for the use of the altered photographs. Stay tuned for updates.

Valqari LLC v. Dronedek Corporation et al.

Case Number: 1:21-cv-01754-JMS-MJD
File Date: Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Plaintiff: Valqari LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Deborah Pollack-Milgate, E. Sahara Williams of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Louis J. Alex of Cook Alex Ltd.
Defendant: Dronedek Corporation, Dronedek LLC, Daniel O’Toole
Cause: Copyright Infringement, False Advertising, False Representations, False Designations of Origin, Reverse Passing Off, Unfair Competition, State Unfair Competition
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Mark J. Dinsmore

Complaint:

Liebowitz files Photography Lawsuit in Northern District of Indiana

20 Wednesday Jan 2021

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

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Famous (infamous) plaintiff’s lawyer Richard Liebowitz has filed another copyright lawsuit in Indiana over the unauthorized use of a photograph of Murlough Bay in Northern Ireland. The photograph has been removed from the Defendant’s website, http://www.anglotopia.net, but the Defendant was apparently not willing to meet Liebowitz’s customary settlement demands and thus a lawsuit was filed.

With a Complaint filed, it’s usual for the Defendant in these cases to weigh the costs/benefits of proceeding and likely choose to settle for a slightly higher amount than pre-Complaint. However, we’ll keep a close eye on this lawsuit to see whether Defendant has a viable defense strategy or whether they are just biding time until the eventual settlement.

Murlough Bay, Northern Ireland

Scnhebelt v. Anglotopia, LLC

Court Case Number: 3:21-cv-00040-JD-MGG
File Date: January 18, 2021
Plaintiff: Stefan Schnebelt
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard Liebowitz of Liebowitz Law Firm, PLLC
Defendant: Anglotopia, LLC
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Integrity of Copyright Management Information
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Jon E. DeGuilio
Referred To: Michael G Gotsch, Sr.

Complaint:

Website development business sues canine trainer for copyright, trademark infringement

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by in Intellectual Property

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We’re back! Due to the coronavirus, trademark and copyright filings have been fairly nonexistent for the last six months. But things are picking up again and the Indiana Intellectual Property Blog is back in action to monitor and review intellectual property filings in Indiana.

This case involves a dispute between co-owners of an online instruction course about canine behavior modification. The defendant, a well-known canine trainer, appears to be caught with the plaintiffs in a dispute over her percentage of profit for her contributions to the plaintiff’s series of online instruction courses and canine behavior modification manuals.

It’s always unfortunate when a closely-held business results in a legal controversy between co-owners. The copyright and trademark claims in this case seem to just be leverage for the plaintiffs toward getting their intended result rather than anything particularly interesting for intellectual property practitioners.

Stay tuned for updates.

Content & Commerce, Inc., Kevin DeTrude v. Donna Chandler, Show Colors, Inc., My K9 Behaves, LLC

Court Case Number: 1:20-cv-02488-JMS-DLP
File Date: September 25, 2020
Plaintiff: Content & Commerce, Inc., Kevin DeTrude
Plaintiff Counsel: B.J. Brinkerhoff, Hannah Kaufman Joseph of Jeselksis Brinherhoff and Joseph, LLC
Defendant: Donna Chandler, Show Colors, Inc.
Cause: Declaratory Judgement of Copyright Ownership, Copyright Infringement, Declaratory Relief as to Trademark Ownership, Trademark Infringement, Derivative Claim For Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Derivative Claim of Waste, Self-Dealing, Mismanagement and Misappropriation of Corporate Assets and Usurpation of Corporate Opportunities, Derivative Claim for Theft and Conversion, Direct Claim for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Direct Claim of Waste, Self-Dealing, Mismanagement and Misappropriation of Corporate Assets and Usurpation of Corporate Opportunities, Direct Claim for Theft and Conversion, Breach of Contract
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Jane E. Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Doris L. Pryor

Complaint: