Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana attorney Richard N. Bell of McCordsville, Indiana filed an
intellectual property lawsuit in the Southern District of Indiana alleging that Find Tickets, LLC of Alpharetta, Georgia infringed the copyright of a photo of the Indianapolis skyline taken by Bell.
In 2000, Plaintiff Bell photographed the downtown Indianapolis skyline. Bell indicates in this complaint that the photo has been registered by the U.S. Copyright Office as Registration Number VA0001785115.
Find Tickets, LLC, which does business at the website www.findticketsfast.com, has been accused of infringing the copyright of this photo. In this single-defendant complaint, Bell contends that Find Tickets used his copyrighted image without permission and that, moreover, “each Defendant willfully and recklessly falsely claimed that it owned the copyrights of all images and photos contained in the Defendant’s website,” including Bell’s photo of Indianapolis. Consequently, alleges Bell, “Defendants have [sic] realized and continue to realize profits and other benefits rightfully belonging to Plaintiff.” Defendant Find Tickets is accused of “willfully and deliberately” engaging in copyright infringement “with oppression, fraud, and malice.”
In this federal complaint, copyright lawyer Bell makes claims of copyright infringement and unfair competition. Plaintiff asserts that he has suffered irreparable injury as a result of the alleged infringement of his copyrighted photo. Bell asks the court to declare that Find Tickets’ use of the photo violates Bell’s rights under the Copyright Act and to enjoin further infringing uses of his photo. He asks for an accounting of all gains, profits and advantages derived by Defendant as a result of the alleged infringement and for statutory and/or actual damages for each violation. Plaintiff also seeks reimbursement of costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
The case was assigned to Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson and Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore in the Southern District of Indiana and assigned Case No. 1:15-cv-00973-JMS-MJD.