Not many people know it, but images clicked by professionals and publicized on a media platform, whether physical or digital, are in fact worth a lot of money. By reason of flooding number of images appearing on the internet, many individuals naively presume such can be freely accessed without involvement of a penny, especially, in the events where the images do not bear a copyright symbol © . At times, even unintentionally such usage of pictures often pounces back on the person posting it. This time, NBA legend Michael Jordan’s tequila company, Cincoro was sued for copyright infringement by one Los Angeles-based photographer Anaïs Ganouna for making use of her photographs in absence of a prior licensing agreement.
As per the complaint, Ganouna was hired by a production company named ‘The Colours You Like’ which itself was hired by Cincoro to do a photoshoot. The said shoot was performed last summer in anticipation for launch of the $1600 bottle company, Cincoro. As per the complaint, “The photoshoot was a major success. During the photoshoot, Cincoro personnel who were in attendance and saw Ms. Ganouna’s photographs on her camera excitedly told Ms. Ganouna that they loved her photographs and could not wait to use them everywhere”. Further adding, “However, towards the end of the photoshoot and in the days after, when Ms. Ganouna attempted to negotiate a licensing fee for Cincoro’s licensing/usage of her photographs, Ms. Ganouna was told that she would not receive anything more than her day rate, that none of the photos will be used and that the Cincoro was aware of the situation.”
The cause of action arose in September 2019, when Ganouna witnessed her photos spread all over the Michael Jordan’s tequila company’s digital platforms, be it Cincoro’s official website, social media accounts or advertisements. According to the lawsuit filed in the United States for the Central District of California, such was done “despite the express representations that had been made to her by” with regards to the usage of photographs.
It was alleged, “Defendants had every intention of using Ms. Ganouna’s photographs. They were excellent, high-quality photographs—Cincoro personnel even expressed this directly to Ms. Ganouna. Defendants never engaged or sent a new photographer for reshoots. They used Ms. Ganouna’s photographs without her knowledge or consent.”
Claims raised by Ganouna are with regards to copyright infringement, fraud, civil conspiracy along with unfair competition. The aggrieved LA-based photographer is seeking damages, both punitive and compensatory and injunction, in addition to other remedies.
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