EXCLUSIVE
Veteran Hollywood photographer David Strick has sued The Los Angeles Times over photo copyright, citing more than 500 violations of the rights to using his work, TheWrap has learned.
Ed Greenberg, an attorney for the photographer, told TheWrap that each infringement could come with an award for as much as $150,000.
The suit was filed in May, but had not been previously reported.
The photographer was signed to the Times with great fanfare four years ago. The paper hoped to drive readers to its entertainment coverage by touting Strick's behind-the-scenes shots from TV and movie sets.
But the relationship soured in May 2010 after the paper decided not to pick up Strick’s option -- but kept using photographs he’d shot while under contract.
Strick, who was never a fulltime Times staffer, claims his contract gave him the rights to his work. The Times is arguing that by uploading the images to the paper's content management system, Strick granted ownership of the photos to the company.
Last May, Strick -- a longtime photographer for Premiere magazine currently under contract at the Hollywood Reporter -- slapped the Times and its parent company, Tribune, with a copyright infringement lawsuit.
If the courts go his way, it could end up being extremely costly for the financially troubled paper.
In his suit, Strick does not set a figure for the damages he believes he’s owed, but he alleges that the Tribune Company and its television stations and various papers have published at least 174 of his photos illegally. He cites at least 510 violations of his copyrights.
In addition, Strick alleges that his agreement was with the Los Angeles Times exclusively and that the use of his images by other Tribune-owned properties such as KTLA and the Orlando Sun Sentinel is in further violation of that pact.
Strick is also seeking attorney’s fees, any profits the Times or Tribune Company banked from use of his images and an injunction preventing the company from using his photographs.
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“The L.A. Times perpetrated numerous acts of copyright infringement. If a federal court judge and jury agrees, then Mr. Strick is entitled to a lot of money and the L.A. Times is in for a severe spanking,” Greenberg told TheWrap.
Attorneys for the paper are trying to force the case into arbitration. They're asking the court to treat the Strick suit as a breach-of-contract dispute, which would limit the amount of damages the Times would be forced to pay if it loses.
The Times declined to comment on the pending litigation.
A hearing to decide whether the two sides will be forced into arbitration or if the case will move to trial is scheduled for Aug.
