I'm not a fan of frivolous lawsuits, but this one looks interesting.
Renowned photographer
Carol M. Highsmith is reportedly suing Getty Images for $1 billion, claiming that the stock photo company committed copyright infringement through the “gross misuse” of 18,755 of her photographs documenting America.
http://petapixel.com/2016/07/27/photogr ... 1-billion/In brief, the story goes like this:
- Highsmith donated her lifetime archive of photos to the Library of Congress.
- The photos are being listed in the LoC's archive as "public domain", which is just what Highsmith had intended.
- Next thing, Getty sends Highsmith a bill, claiming that Getty owns the photos and Highsmith is illegally using her own photos on her own website, by thus infringing Getty's copyright.
This is not the first time Getty pulls a stunt like this. In 2013, photographer Daniel Morel was awarded $ 1.2 M in a lawsuit against AFP and Getty Images, who illegally had used one of his photos.
In the Highsmith case, they are now accused of having stolen and wrongfully marketed 18,755 photos, hence the slightly bigger bill.
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