Tag Archives: Photography

Copyright Infringement Lawsuit filed in Southern District of Indiana by the “Riot Photographer’s Riot Photographer”

20 Wednesday Sep 2023

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

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The plaintiff in this copyright infringement lawsuit is a retired independent journalist from the UK. His work is focused on social issues such as policing, homelessness, drugs, racial and social conflict, social exclusion, and environmental protection. He is described as “the riot photographer’s riot photographer.”

The defendant is an Indianapolis-based investigation firm that allegedly used one of the plaintiff’s photographs on its website without permission. The Complaint (below) indicates that the parties have been in contact but unable to negotiate a reasonable license. Presumably the cost of a reasonable license will go up now that a lawsuit has been filed, but let’s see whether their fee negotiations are helped by the filing, perhaps now with the input of an insurer who might be responsible for the cost.

Stay tuned for updates.

Hoffman v. Lauth Investigations International Inc

Court Case Number: 1:23-cv-01678-JPH-MKK
File Date: September 18, 2023
Plaintiff: David Hoffman
Plaintiff Counsel: Michael A. Swift of Maginot, Moore & Beck, LLP
Defendant: Lauth Investigations International Inc
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Removal of Copyright Management Information
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James Patrick Hanlon
Referred To: M. Kendra Klump

Complaint:

Indianapolis Water Damage Restoration Company sued over Unauthorized Use of Photograph on Christmas Safety Blog Post

13 Thursday Jul 2023

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

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Restoration 1, an Indianapolis-based water damage restoration service, has been sued for unauthorized use of a photograph on their website. The Plaintiff is a professional photographer from New Jersey who, per the Complaint (below), first sought to negotiate a reasonable license before bringing this lawsuit with a single claim of copyright infringement.

The photograph of blurry Christmas lights was allegedly used by the Defendant as the header in a blog post titled “A Safety Guide to Outdoor Christmas Lights.” This lawsuit should be a reminder to other companies that no matter how benevolent your intended use might be, don’t ever use images you pull directly from Google Images or you could get sued. A second lesson, probably soon to be learned by this Defendant, is that the “reasonable license” fee can increase significantly after a lawsuit is filed.

Stay tuned for updates.

Sadowski v. Restoration 1 by J&D, LLC

Court Case Number: 1:23-cv-01224-JRS-MKK
File Date: July 12, 2023
Plaintiff: Christopher Sadowski
Plaintiff Counsel: Michael A. Swift of Maginot, Moore & Beck LLP
Defendant: Restoration 1 by J&D, LLC d/b/a Restoration 1 of Greater Indianapolis
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James R. Sweeney II
Referred To: M. Kendra Klump

Complaint:

Austin-based Photographer sues Portland, Indiana Car Dealership for Copyright Infringement

27 Friday Jan 2023

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

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The plaintiff in this copyright lawsuit is a professional photographer from Austin, Texas. His work is focused on architectural and landscape photography.

One defendant, Lynn Boolman Auto Sales (“Boolman”), is a used car dealership in Portland, Indiana.

The other defendant, Carsforsale.com, is an online auto marketplace operating out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It seems from the Complaint (below) that both defendants made an unauthorized use of one of the plaintiff’s landscape photographs, including cropping the photograph to remove the photographer’s signature.

It is not clear whether there is any other connection between the two defendants besides both using the photograph. Jurisdiction over Carsforsale.com seems tenuous. At least from the Complaint and related Exhibit (below), I don’t see any action that Carsforsale.com took in Indiana, either if they first posted the photograph online or if Boolman posted it to their website.

In addition to the Copyright Infringement claim, the Complaint also includes a claim for Removal of Copyright Management Information, based on the cropping of the author’s signature. However, one of the more interesting and unusual aspects of the lawsuit is the plaintiff’s third claim for Addition of False Copyright Management Information, based on the car dealership overlaying its own logo and contact information onto the (cropped) plaintiff’s photograph. Presumably, the dealership will maintain that the information added to the photograph does not identify the author or copyright owner, and thus doesn’t qualify as “copyright management information” (see definition here).

The plaintiff made prior unsuccessful attempts to negotiate with the defendants in December 2021 and January 2022. Finding no satisfactory resolution, the plaintiff now seeks the intervention of the Court. Photography copyright lawsuits often settle quickly, but stay tuned for updates.

Stross v. Lynn Boolman Auto Sales Limited Liability Company et al

Court Case Number: 3:23-cv-00061-DRL-MGG
File Date: January 25, 2023
Plaintiff: Alexander Bayonne Stross
Plaintiff Counsel: Evan A. Andersen of SRIPLAW, P.A.
Defendants: Lynn Boolman Auto Sales Limited Liability Company, Carsforsale.com, Inc.
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Removal of Copyright Management Information, Addition of False Copyright Management Information
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Damon R. Leichty
Referred To: Michael G. Gotsch, Sr.

Complaint:

Exhibit 2:

Pacers’ Lance Stephenson sued for posting photographs of himself on Instagram Stories

28 Friday Jan 2022

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

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The plaintiff in this copyright lawsuit is a professional photographer who has taken several photographs of Indiana Pacers’ Lance Stephenson, including photographs of Stephenson winning the 2008 Public School Athletic League as a high-schooler with Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island, New York.

Stephenson allegedly posted several of the plaintiff’s photographs on his Instagram account, stephensonlance, without authorization from the plaintiff. Most of the postings were apparently posted in Stephenson’s “Instagram Stories,” which disappear after 24 hours.

Lance Stephenson isn’t the first public figure to be sued for posting unowned photos of themself on social media. Being the subject of a photograph does not grant you copyright ownership of that photograph. Copyright ownership is held by the photographer, who can thus control how the photograph is publicly displayed. These types of lawsuits are typically settled out-of-court, but obviously not in this instance, although the Complaint (below) makes no mention of attempted settlement negotiations. Nevertheless, settlement usually follows shortly after a complaint is filed, although usually at a higher settlement amount.

Stay tuned for updates.

Reid v. Stephenson

Case Number: 1:22-cv-00205-JRS-DLP
File Date: January 27, 2022
Plaintiff: Damion Reid
Plaintiff Counsel: Craig B. Sanders of Sanders Law Group
Defendant: Lance Stephenson
Cause: Direct Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: James R. Sweeney II
Referred To: Doris L. Pryor

Complaint:

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: