HOUSTON – A Texas-based commercial photography studio has brought a copyright lawsuit against a local real estate agency, recent Houston federal court records show.
In court filings dated Dec. 17, Bee Creek Photography implicates Nan and Company Properties, LLC in the “unauthorized reproduction and public display of a copyrighted aerial panoramic photograph of Houston.”
According to the plaintiff, its owner, Tod Grubbs, shot the subject image and added a watermark bearing the business’s Web site, BeeCreekPhotography.com.
“Bee Creek has at all times been the author of the photograph and has at all times been the sole owner of all right, title and interest in and to the photograph, including the copyright thereto,” the suit says.
The defendant allegedly ran an article featuring the picture on its site, to which Bee Creek asserts was done without its permission or consent.
“Prior to the filing of this lawsuit, there was no communication between plaintiff and defendant,” the original petition says.
Consequently, the plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
It is represented by Richard Liebowitz of the Liebowitz Law Firm, PLLC in Valley Stream, N.Y.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 4:18-CV-4742