OAKLAND – A San Diego photographer claims an Oakland company used his photo to advertise its services without his permission.
John Durant, doing business as John Durant Photographer, filed a complaint on Sept. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Enginious Structures Inc. alleging that the California corporation violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that since Oct. 2, 2006, he holds exclusive copyright ownership for a collection of photographic images titled “Third Quarter 2006,” which included a photograph of the Brandes residence. The plaintiff alleges the defendant copied and publicly displayed the photo on its website to market and sell its own products and services.
The plaintiff holds Enginious Structures Inc. responsible because the defendant allegedly gained profit at the expense of plaintiff's intellectual property, failed to acknowledge the true origin of the photograph and failed to obtain permission to display the copyrighted work.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendant, declaration of infringement, damages, disgorgement, awarding of gains, profits, property, and advantages derived from infringement, costs, disbursement, attorneys' fees, interest, enjoining defendant from further infringement and further relief as the court may deem just. He is represented by Christopher B. Yeh of Duane Morris LLP in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division Case number 4:16-cv-05161