Sunday, March 17, 2013

Stupid Lawsuit Of The day



From the Detroit Free Press:
Michigan football legend Desmond Howard is on the receiving end of a lawsuit that could pass for unnecessary roughness -- or unsportsmanlike conduct.
At least that's how Howard sees it.
The former NFL and Michigan Wolverine star is speaking extensively for the first time about a lawsuit he got whacked with in January involving the photo of his iconic Heisman pose. The photographer who snapped the shot, which became one of most historic moments in college football history, is suing Howard, Sports Illustrated and a host of others, claiming they sold and copied his photo without asking, crediting or paying him.
Howard, who is accused of posting the photo to his website without permission, says he was blindsided....
The lawsuit revolves around a 1991 photograph that captured Howard striking the Heisman Trophy pose in the end zone during a Michigan-Ohio State football game.
The picture, snapped after Howard returned a 93-yard punt for a touchdown, has turned up in magazines, posters, giant wall art, sports memorabilia and Howard's website.
The photographer, Brian Masck, argues all of this was done without his permission.
Howard, a longtime advocate of college athletes' rights to their likeness, says he's done nothing wrong...
According to the lawsuit, Masck didn't get a copyright for the photo until 2011, which he partly blames on bad legal advice.
The statute of limitations for copyright infringement is three years.
Masck's suit claims Howard unlawfully posted the photo to his website in 2011.
It also accuses Sports Illustrated of unlawfully using the photo in an advertising spread for Nissan automobiles in 2010 and 2011. Wal-Mart and Amazon.com also are accused of unlawfully selling the image on its websites.
"This case is not about a photograph going viral. It is about getting credit ... And yes, it is also about the money," the lawsuit states. "The Heisman pose and Brian's iconic photograph which captured it have both gone viral. The name Brian Masck has not." http://www.freep.com/article/20130317/NEWS01/303170207/Former-Michigan-star-Desmond-Howard-says-he-ll-vigorously-fight-Heisman-photo-lawsuit
Whatever, photographer, you blew it by not copywriting the picture until 2011.  Get better legal advise.

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