Muhammad Ali, The Fifth Road Fitness center, Miami Seashore, 1978 | Picture by Michael Gaffney Muhammad Ali’s private photographer, Michael Gaffney, gained a landmark copyright infringement lawsuit towards Genuine Manufacturers Group (ABG), securing damages totaling $2.75 million. Represented by Glaser Weil associate Robert Allen, affiliate Jason Linger, and paralegal Rebecca Feldman, award-winning New Jersey-based photographer Michael Gaffney filed a lawsuit within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York final month alleging that American administration firm Genuine Manufacturers Group (ABG) and its subsidiary, Muhammad Ali Enterprises, had dedicated “direct, vicarious, and contributory copyright infringement” of 11 of Gaffney’s images of Muhammad Ali, captured when Gaffney was the famed boxer’s photographer within the late Nineteen Seventies. Gaffney and his authorized illustration claimed that ABG had used Gaffney’s photos after the photographer’s contract with ABG had ended, displaying Gaffney’s pictures to thousands and thousands of individuals and distributing them illegally to quite a few firms, together with TAG Heuer, for promoting campaigns. After a six-day trial, the jury discovered ABG liable on 23 counts of copyright infringement. The jury additionally discovered that the defendants dedicated willful infringement, exhibiting “data of or reckless disregard of Gaffney’s copyrighted works.” Gaffney’s pictures, captured in 1977 and 1978, have been used on varied merchandise and on ABG’s business social media accounts. Eight witnesses’ testimony and offered proof glad the jury, and the ten-member jury awarded Gaffney the utmost statutory damages totaling $1.65 million and a further $1.1 million in damages and infringer income.
“The jury awarded $1.65 million in statutory damages. These are damages set by the Copyright Act. The same old vary is $750 to $30,000 per work, however for willful infringement, the utmost goes as much as $150,000 per work,” Glaser Weil affiliate Jason Linger tells PetaPixel. “In our case, the jury discovered willful infringement and awarded the utmost of $150,000 per {photograph} as a result of there have been 11 images by Gaffney that have been eligible for statutory damages.” Linger explains that the extra damages have been awarded primarily based on calculations in regards to the gross income earned by the defendants utilizing the infringing images and making use of a royalty share. “We offered proof that Defendants earned gross income of over $8 million from their use of Gaffney’s images,” Linger says. The jury additionally awarded about $362,000 in precise damages, calculated by figuring out a misplaced license charge Gaffney would have realistically earned had the defendants appropriately licensed the pictures from him. “This is a vital victory for all photographers. Pictures are a type of mental property protected by copyright. This case sends a strong message that a big firm can nonetheless be held accountable in the event that they misuse another person’s works,” Linger provides. Picture credit: Featured picture © Michael Gaffney
