SAN FRANCISCO – A professional photographer is suing an online store that sells sports memorabilia on eBay over copyright infringement allegations.
Scott Serio of Maryland, who does business as Eclipse Sportswire, filed a lawsuit Jan. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Fun Fair Inc., which does business as Marin County Sports, of Arizona.
According to the claim, Serio creates and licenses photographic images of sporting events. Among his work, Serio is the original author of a photo of the Triple Crown winning horse American Pharaoh, which was taken in May and is the work in debate, the suit states. Serio alleges he discovered an instance where Fun Fair publicly displayed and distributed an unauthorized reproduction of his work through its eBay store.
Serio is seeking declaration of the defendant’s infringement from the court that such infringement is willful, be awarded actual damages up to $150,000 for each copyrighted work infringed and exemplary and punitive damages. Brandon P. Leahy of Duane Morris LLP in San Francisco is representing Serio.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 3:16-cv-00438