A food advertisement company, Prepared Food Photos (formerly known as ADLIFE Marketing & Communications Co., Inc.), filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan accusing Danmas, Inc., also known as, Saveland Supermarket of copyright infringement.
According to the complaint, Prepared Food Photos is in the business of licensing high-end, professional photographs for the food industry. Through its commercial website, the plaintiff offers monthly subscriptions which provides license to the tens of thousands professional images. The plaintiff does not license individual photos or make them available for purchase.
The complaint details three photographs by Prepared Foods; each of which, the plaintiff registered with the Register of Copyrights.
The defendant is accused of publishing the aforementioned photographs—after the plaintiff registered them for copyright—on the defendant’s website and social media advertising the defendant’s own business from February 2020 to September 2020. According to the complaint, the defendant has never been licensed to use or display the photograph nor did the defendant contact the plaintiff to seek permission for its (i.e., the photograph’s) commercial use.
According to the complaint, Prepared Foods notified the defendant of its infringement of their copyrighted material; the plaintiff said they have been unable to negotiate a reasonable license with the defendant. The plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the defendant infringed the plaintiff’s copyright purposefully, an award of actual damages and disgorgement of profits, payment for the plaintiff’s costs and attorney’s fees, and the permanent enjoining of the defendant from directly or indirectly infringing on the plaintiff’s copyrights. Prepared Foods Photos is represented by Copycat Legal PLLC.
