Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Indianapolis, Indiana – Attorneys for Plaintiff, Allan Tannenbaum of New York, New York, filed suit in the Northern District of Indiana alleging that Defendant, The2Connect, LLC of Elkhart, Indiana, infringed his rights in United States Copyright Registration No. VA 123-967. Tannenbaum is seeking actual damages, statutory damages, costs, attorneys’ fees, prejudgment interest, and any further relief that the Court deems proper.
Tannenbaum claims he is a professional photographer that licenses his photographs to online and print media sources for a fee. The photograph at issue in this case, is one that Tannenbaum allegedly took of John Lennon and Yoko Ono (the “Photograph”).
According to the complaint, The2Connect operates a website with the URL: https://maps.roadtrippers.com (the “Website”). Tannenbaum claims The2Connect utilized his Photograph in connection with an article entitled Rock and Roll Deaths Tour: Top 12 Dearly Departed Rockers on the Website without Tannenbaum’s permission. As such, Tannenbaum is suing The2Connect for copyright infringement in violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 106 and 501 and seeking damages pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) or (c). Tannenbaum is also seeking attorneys’ fees pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 505.
The plaintiff Tannenbaum is represented by Richard Liebowitz of Valley Stream, New York. Mr. Liebowitz frequently files copyright infringement lawsuits, and has the dubious distinction of being frequently sanctioned. In an order dated July 10, 2019 in the case of Rice v. NBCUniversal Media LLC, Judge Furman imposed another sanction against Mr. Liebowitz and his firm for $8745.50 due to his failure to comply with court orders relating to a mediation and requiring his appearance in court. That order begins with this:
In his relatively short career litigating in this District, Richard Liebowitz has earned the dubious distinction of being a regular target of sanctions-related motions and orders. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that there is a growing body of law in this District devoted to the question of whether and when to impose sanctions on Mr. Liebowitz alone.
The case was assigned to District Judge Philip P. Simon and Magistrate Judge Michael G. Gotsch, Sr. in the Northern District and assigned Case 3:19-cv-00555-PPS-MGG.