SoBroFoto LLC v. iHeartMedia, Inc.

On April 21, 2023, SoBroFoto LLC (“Plaintiff”), represented by Craig Sanders of Sanders Law Group, filed an intellectual property lawsuit against IHeartMedia Inc. (“Defendant”), seeking damages and injunctive relief for alleged copyright infringement. This case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, with Judge Fred Biery presiding.

In the complaint, Plaintiff alleged, “Defendant, without permission or authorization from Plaintiff, actively copied and/or displayed the Photograph on the Website and engaged in this misconduct knowingly and in violation of the United States copyright laws. Without permission or authorization from Plaintiff, Defendant volitionally copied and/or displayed Plaintiff's copyright protected Photograph on the Website.”

The plaintiff then alleged, “Plaintiff's Photograph was copied and displayed by Defendant without license or permission, thereby infringing on Plaintiff's copyrights in and to the Photograph. The Infringement increased traffic to the Website and, in turn, caused Defendant to realize an increase in the revenues generated by its paid advertisements.”

The plaintiff further alleged, “The Infringements are exact copies of Plaintiff's original image that were directly copied and displayed by Defendant on the Website. Whether not the Photograph was ‘embedded,’ i.e., stored on a third-party website, is of no consequence because the Photograph was displayed on Defendant’s website, in violation of Plaintiff’s display right under 17 U.S.C. §106(5).”

The plaintiff also alleged, “The Photograph was willfully and volitionally posted to the Website by Defendant. Defendant was aware of facts or circumstances from which the determination regarding the Infringements was apparent. Defendant cannot claim that it was not aware of the infringing activities, including the specific Infringements which form the basis of this complaint, since such a claim would amount to only willful blindness on the part of Defendant.”

The plaintiff additionally alleged, “Defendant engaged in the Infringement knowingly and in violation of applicable United States copyright laws. Plaintiff has not granted Defendant a license or the right to use the Photograph in any manner, nor has Plaintiff assigned any of its exclusive rights in the copyright to Defendant. Without permission or authorization from Plaintiff and in willful violation of Plaintiff's rights under 17 U.S.C. §106, Defendant improperly and illegally copied, reproduced, distributed, adapted, and/or publicly displayed works copyrighted by Plaintiff thereby violating one of Plaintiff's exclusive rights in its copyrights.”

The plaintiff then alleged, “Defendant's reproduction of the Photograph and display of the Photograph constitutes willful copyright infringement. Defendant willfully infringed upon Plaintiff's Photograph in violation of Title 17 of the U.S. Code, in that Defendant used, published, communicated, posted, publicized, and otherwise held out to the public for commercial benefit, Plaintiff's original and unique Photograph without Plaintiff's consent or authority, by using it on the Website.”

Plaintiff presented one claim for relief alleging copyright infringement.

In the prayer for relief, Plaintiff requested an order declaring that Defendant infringed Plaintiff's copyright interest in and to the Photograph by copying and displaying it without a license or consent. Plaintiff also requested actual damages and disgorgement of all Defendant’s profits attributable to the alleged infringement.

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