On April 26, 2019, the Fourth Circuit Court overturned a Northern Virginia District Court decision that allowed Violent Hues Productions, LLC’s to use a cropped version of a photo to promote a Film and Music Festival without compensation to the creator. Violent Hues had made no effort to request permission or compensate photographer Russell Brammer for the use and claimed “Fair Use” in court. (See
July 2018 story.)
All the major trade associations including NPPA, ASMP, DMLA, The American Photographic Artists and the Graphic Artists Guild joined in filing an amicus brief in support of Brammer in his appeal.
After the ruling NPPA attorney Mickey Osterreicher, a co-author of the brief said, “We hope that this will be seen as a clear message that it is much better and far cheaper to seek permission and license images than it is to steal them.”
Alicia Calzada, a co-author of the brief added, “It’s incredibly rewarding to see such a resounding rejection of anti-copyright ideas. It’s a tough decision for a photographer to pursue an appeal in a copyright case because of the financial risks. We are grateful that Russell Brammer and his attorneys saw the long-term benefits of doing so—their commitment benefits all photographers.”
For more on the case see
here.
For the full document of the court ruling see
here.