LOS ANGELES – The copyright owner of a photograph of Marilyn Monroe has filed a suit against an author and a book publisher alleging the photo was published in a book without permission.
Andrew Strauss and StartHear! LLC filed a complaint on July 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division against David Wills, Harper Collins Publishing and Does 1-25 alleging that they use plaintiffs' copyrighted photograph without their consent.
According to the complaint, Strauss owns the copyright to a photo of Marilyn Monroe taken in 1953 and that StartHear! is the exclusively licensed publisher of that photograph. The plaintiffs hold Wills, Harper Collins Publishing, and Does 1-25 responsible because Wills allegedly used the photo in his book "Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis," which was published by Harper Collins, without the plaintiffs' permission.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek damages, injunction against the defendant, interest, all legal fees and any other relief as the court deems just. They are represented by Kelly F. Ryan and Nate Loakes of The Ryan Law Firm in Monrovia and Pierre Vudrag of The Law Office of Pierre Vudrag in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division Case number 2:16-cv-05103-MWF-SS