LOS ANGELES – A New York professional photojournalist alleges the owners of a YouTube channel with more than 4 million subscribers used one of his photographs without license or consent.
Stephen Yang filed a complaint on Aug. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against The Young Turks Inc. and The Young Turks LLC alleging copyright infringement.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff photographed businessman Dan Rochkind in 2017 and the photograph was published under license by the New York Post in April 2017. The plaintiff alleges the photograph was also registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.
The plaintiff holds The Young Turks Inc. and The Young Turks LLC responsible because the defendants allegedly posted the photograph multiple times in a video on their YouTube channel without license from him or permission.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendant; order removal of the photograph; statutory damages of up to $150,000 per copyrighted work infringed; account for all profits, income, receipts, or other benefits derived from infringement; interest; and further relief as the court may deem just. He is represented by Gregory P. Goonan of The Affinity Law Group in San Diego.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:18-cv-07502