stock photography suits
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Righthaven, the Gift that Keeps on Giving
I’ve written before (recursive link) about copyright registrations by photo agencies. Rather than individual photographers registering their own works, it is common practice for a photo agency to periodically register the works of many photographers en masse. As described in a recent 9th Circuit opinion, the process was created collaboratively by a photography trade association… Continue reading
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Four Agreements, No Standing
Today’s post is another of the many currently-pending lawsuits by photographers against textbook publishers (recursive link) for under-reporting the number of copies of books that were published. In this case, the defendant publisher Pearson Education challenged the standing of plaintiff Viesti Associates, Inc., a stock photo agency. Viesti had four different agreements with photographers, two… Continue reading
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9th Circuit Agrees with Copyright Office
There is a rash of lawsuits brought by photographic agencies against textbook publishers, claiming that the publishers underreported the number of copies of books that were published. The publishers are fighting back and there are two main grounds for attack—that the requirements for registration were not met and that the individual photographers’ assignments to the… Continue reading
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How to Do a Copyright Assignment So You Can Sue
I’ve written before about a bunch of copyright infringement lawsuits brought by numerous photo agencies claiming that book publishers exceeded the scope of licenses granted, either by publishing in unlicensed territories or printing more copies than permitted by the license. The photo agency business model presents litigation challenges, though: only the legal or beneficial owner… Continue reading
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It’s Hard to Get Copyright Standing Right
I gotta think that book publisher Pearson Education has lousy recordkeeping. I found 10 reported cases filed against it, not including this one, alleging that Pearson Education exceeded the scope of the license for photographs it uses in books. The plaintiff in Minden Pictures, Inc. v. Pearson Education, Inc. claims “that Pearson has been sued… Continue reading
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