PITTSBURGH – A Virginia photographer claims a Pittsburgh interior design and construction services company published an infringing copy of one of his photographs on its Instagram page.
Morgan Howarth filed a complaint on Dec. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Luxe Home and Design LLC alleging copyright infringement.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff is the creator of two photographs of the kitchen of the Montgomery House that were published in 2012. The suit states the photos have been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and are available for licensing.
The plaintiff holds Luxe Home and Design LLC responsible because the defendant allegedly published an infringing copy of plaintiff's copyrighted image on its Instagram page without license and on its home page.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks actual damages, disgorgement, statutory damages, enjoin the defendant, order the defendant to impound or turn over to the plaintiff all copies of the protected work, court costs, interest, and any further relief the court grants. He is represented by Jonathan J. Greystone of Spector Gadon & Rosen PC in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case number 2:17-cv-01580-LPL