A fish illustrator has filed federal lawsuits against two Arkansas fishing guides alleging copyright infringement.
Joseph Tomelleri of Leawood, Kan., says Ben Sandersof Hot Springs and Doug Allen of Springdale modified his illustrations for use on their websites without pay or permission, according to the lawsuits filed Dec. 6 in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
In each case, the defendants removed Tomelleri's copyright information from the illustrations on his website, americanfishes.com, and replaced it with their own copyright information on the Arkansas websites, according to the lawsuits, which were filed by Tomelleri's attorney, Matt Leffler of St. Louis.
"Defendant intentionally affixed these marks, attributing the works to defendant," according to the lawsuit against Sanders, who owns Striped Bass Fishing Guide and operates the websites arkansasstripers.com and lakeouachita.org.
The lawsuit against Allen included the same sentence, but the word "works" was replaced with "illustrations."
Allen operates the website KingsRiverArkansas.com, according to the lawsuit. That guide service is in Eureka Springs, according to KingsRiverArkansas.com, when it was publicly viewable on Tuesday.
Besides copyright infringement, the lawsuits also allege violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Tomelleri -- a biologist who has spent more than 30 years collecting, studying and illustrating North American fish species -- is demanding a jury trial, according to the lawsuits.
Prints of Tomelleri's images are available for sale on his website, as are digital reproductions.
"Since the late 1980's, I have provided scientific fish illustrations for more than 1,000 books, magazines, posters, signage, fish ID projects, websites, advertisements, aquaria and commercial products," the licensing section of Tomelleri's website states.
Most of his 1,300 illustrations are of freshwater fish.
"One-time reproduction fees are based on the specific use, the size that the image will be reproduced, how many times it is reproduced, and whether or not it is sold commercially," according to the website.
Sanders modified at least nine of Tomelleri's images for use on his website, wrote Leffler. They included bluegill, green sunfish, blue catfish, male black crappie, male white crappie, female channel catfish, black bullhead, flathead catfish and redear sunfish.
Allen used at least three images that were "derivative" of Tomelleri's work, according to the other lawsuit. They included Ozark bass, longear sunfish and green sunfish.
In an email Tuesday, Sanders said that he was unaware of the lawsuit and didn't know to what images it was referring.
In a subsequent email on Friday, Sanders said he still hadn't been able to find the images in question on his websites.
"I have had several people, including an attorney, check them out -- nothing can be found," wrote Sanders.
Sanders, 72, said he has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and "I haven't been very active in several years."
Sanders said the only reason his websites are still online is because he was "trying to give a young man an opportunity to take over."
When asked if his websites had posted any of Tomelleri's images in the past, Sanders said, "No idea."
Allen didn't respond to a message sent Tuesday through KingsRiverArkansas.com. The website was public on Tuesday, but not on Wednesday, when a message on the website read: "This site is currently private. If you're the owner or contributor, log in."
Leffler wants a court injunction to prevent Sanders and Allen from violating Tomelleri's copyright.
He's also seeking costs, attorneys fees, actual damages and any additional profits of the defendants, or if Tomelleri elects before judgment is entered, statutory damages.
Tomelleri has filed similar lawsuits this month against several fishing guides in other states.
On July 17, Travis Gray of St. Louis filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of Tomelleri against Robert Hodgson, who did business as Fly Fishing Extreme of Bella Vista.
Hodgson modified and used at least three of Tomelleri's illustrations on flyfishingextreme.com, according to the court filing. That website is currently "parked," according to a message at the site.
In a response filed Aug. 23, Seth Haines of Fayetteville, Hodgson's attorney, denied most of the allegations, including one about his client removing Tomelleri's copyright information and replacing it with his own.
The case against Hodgson is scheduled to go to trial July 6 in federal court in Fayetteville.
Metro on 12/16/2019
"fish" - Google News
December 16, 2019 at 03:11PM
https://ift.tt/35pxH4w
Fish illustrations poached, suits say - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"fish" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35JkYuc
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Fish illustrations poached, suits say - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette"
Post a Comment