LOS ANGELES — A Ventura County aerial photographer is suing a California competitor, alleging copyright infringement.
Craig Schmitman filed a complaint Aug. 14 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Erik Coffin, doing business as Gotham Properties International, Gotham Management Group Inc. and Does 1-10, alleging they stole and illegally copied the plaintiff's copyrighted imagery.
According to the complaint, Schmitman suffered damages from having his copyrighted works copied without his consent between Feb. 7, 2015, and July 1, 2017. The plaintiff alleges the defendants used Schmitman's copyrighted imagery on their website and represented those images as their own.
Schmitman seeks trial by jury, enjoin the defendants, order the defendants to destroy all copies of the plaintiff's photographs, documents, media, files and other items in their possession, punitive damages, statutory damages up to $150,000, actual damages, disgorgement of all profits, legal fees and all other relief the court deems just. He is represented by attorney Eric D. Ridley of Law Offices of Eric D. Ridley in Port Hueneme, California.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:17-cv-06009-BRO-AGR