SAN FRANCISCO – A San Carlos photographer is suing several businesses over claims his photo was used without his permission.
Joseph Ercoli filed a lawsuit on Dec. 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against JLC Productions, Top Shelf Classics, Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant and Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC, citing copyright infringement.
According to the claim, Ercoli is the holder of the copyright of a photograph titled “A River Runs Through It, et al.,” which is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office as No. VA0001883152. The photo is of the Bay Bridge from Yerba Buena Island, the complaint states. As late as June 2014, the defendants allegedly used the copyrighted image and published it on various sites. The defendants did not seek and failed to obtain Ercoli’s consent, he claims.
Through a jury trial, Ercoli is seeking damages in the amount proven by trial, and an order for the defendants to destroy the infringing item or image. Andrew D. Winghart of the Winghart Law Group Inc., of Redwood City will represent Ercoli.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 3:15-cv-06333