LOS ANGELES – A Ramona business claims that a photograph it owns of firefighters tending to a fire was used by a Utah company without permission.
Silvertip Partners LLC filed a complaint on Aug. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Proactive Preparedness Inc., doing business as Survivalkit, and Does 1-10 alleging violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and copyright infringement.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that it owns an original registered photograph that was used for commercial purposes in various ways by defendants without authority from it, which it claims caused damages.
The plaintiff holds Proactive Preparedness Inc. Does 1-10 responsible because the defendants allegedly obtained profits from their infringement of the plaintiff's original photograph, committed copyright infringement with actual knowledge of plaintiff’s rights, altered copyright management information to conceal infringement and exploited said images in website posts without plaintiff’s consent.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks that defendants be enjoined from infringing plaintiff’s copyrights, be awarded all profits of defendants, attorneys’ fees, costs of suit, damages, interest and further relief as the court deems proper. It is represented by Stephen M. Doniger, Scott A. Burroughs and Howard S. Han of Doniger / Burroughs in Venice.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Case number 16-cv-05826