Case 1:22-cv-00205-JRS-DLP Document 1 Filed 01/27/22 Page 1 of 9 PageID #: 1

1 SANDERS LAW GROUP

Craig B. Sanders, Esq.
2 100 Garden City Plaza, Suite 500
Garden City, NY 11530
3 Tel: (516) 203-7600
Email: csanders@sanderslaw.group
4 File No.: 123875
5 Attorneys for Plaintiff
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
8 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
9
)
10 Damion Reid, )
)
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Plaintiff, ) Case No:
12 )
v. ) COMPLAINT
13 )
Lance Stephenson, ) DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
14 )
15 Defendant. )
)
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Plaintiff Damion Reid (“Plaintiff”), by and through his undersigned counsel, for his
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18 Complaint against Defendant Lance Stephenson (“Defendant”) states and alleges as follows:

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INTRODUCTION
20 1. This action seeks to recover damages for copyright infringement.

21 2. Plaintiff herein creates photographic images and owns the rights to these
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photographs which Plaintiff licenses for various uses including online and print publications.
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3. Defendant owns and operates a social media account with the name of
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“stephensonlance” on Instagram (the “Account”).
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4. Defendant, without permission or authorization from Plaintiff actively copied,
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27 stored, and/or displayed Plaintiff's photographs on the Account and engaged in this misconduct

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1 knowingly and in violation of the United States copyright laws.

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PARTIES
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5. Plaintiff Damion Reid is an individual who is a citizen of the State of New York
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and maintains a principal place of business at 123-28 220th Street, Laurelton, Queens in New
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York City, New York.
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6. Upon information and belief, Defendant Lance Stephenson, is an individual who is
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8 a citizen of the State of Indiana and who resides at 7590 Hunt Country Lane, Zionsville in Boone

9 County, Indiana and is liable and responsible to Plaintiff based on the facts herein alleged.
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JURISDICTION AND VENUE
11 7. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the federal copyright infringement
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claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1338(a) and 28 U.S.C. §1331.
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8. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Lance Stephenson because he is domiciled
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in Indiana.
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16 9. Venue is proper under 28 U.S.C. §1391(a)(2) because Lance Stephenson resides in

17 this Judicial District and/or because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the

18 claim occurred in this Judicial District.

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FACTS COMMON TO ALL CLAIMS
20 10. Plaintiff is a professional photographer by trade who is the legal and rightful owner
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of photographs which he licenses to online and print publications.
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11. Plaintiff has invested significant time and money in building Plaintiff's photograph
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portfolio.
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25 12. Plaintiff has obtained active and valid copyright registrations from the United States

26 Copyright Office (the “USCO”) which cover many of Plaintiff's photographs while many others

27 are the subject of pending copyright applications.

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1 13. Plaintiff's photographs are original, creative works in which Plaintiff owns
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protectable copyright interests.
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14. The Account is associated with Defendant.
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15. Defendant has exclusive access to post on Defendant’s Instagram Account.
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16. Defendant exhibits promotional content on the Account, including but not limited
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7 to Plaintiff’s Photographs, whereby Defendant increases his notoriety and prestige as a

8 professional athlete and, upon information and belief, Defendant financially benefits from his use
9 of the Account.
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17. On March 16, 2008, Plaintiff Damion Reid authored a photograph of professional
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basketball player Lance Stephenson, as an adolescent, celebrating his team’s victory in the 2008
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Public Schools Athletic League (“Photograph 1”). A copy of Photograph 1 is attached hereto
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14 collectively as Exhibit 1 (Exhibit 1-Photograph #1).

15 18. Plaintiff applied to the USCO to register Photograph 1 on or about May 7, 2019

16 under Application No. 1-7673947678

17 19. Photograph 1 was registered by the USCO on May 7, 2019 under Registration No.
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VA 2-154-422.
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20. On May 3, 2019, Plaintiff Damion Reid authored several photographs of
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professional basketball player Lance Stephenson, as an adolescent, in various celebratory
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22 instances, after Stephenson’s victory in the 2008 Public School Athletic League (“Photograph 2-

23 4”). Copies of each individual photograph are attached hereto collectively as Exhibit 1 (Exhibit 1-

24 Photograph #2-4).
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21. Plaintiff applied to the USCO to register Photograph 2 ,3, and 4 on or about July
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25, 2019 under Application No. 1-7914879992
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1 22. Photograph 2, 3, and 4 were registered by the USCO on July 25, 2019 under
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Registration No. VA 2-165-497.
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23. On January 21, 2020, Plaintiff Damion Reid authored a photograph of professional
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basketball player Lance Stephenson in a verbal confrontation with another player during a
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basketball game (“Photograph 5”). A Copy of Photograph 5 is attached hereto collectively as
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7 Exhibit 1 (Exhibit 1-Photograph #5).

8 24. Plaintiff applied to the USCO to register Photograph 5 on or about April 15, 2020
9 under Application No. 1-8740748167.
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25. Photograph 5 was registered by the USCO on April 15, 2020 under Registration
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No. VA 2-203-940.
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26. On May 6, 2019, Plaintiff observed Photograph 1, 2, 3, and 4 (hereinafter
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14 collectively “Photographs”) on the Account. Copies of the screengrabs of the Account including

15 each individual Photograph are attached hereto collectively as Exhibit 2.

16 27. Furthermore, Plaintiff observed Photograph 5 on the Account, subsequent to his

17 initial discovery of the Infringements, via Instagram’s “Stories” function in further violation of
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Plaintiff’s rights.
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28. A copy of Photograph 1 was displayed on Defendant’s Instagram Account at
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www.instagram.com at URL: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxBSrz5gX-M (Exhibit 2-
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22 Infringement #1).

23 29. A copy of Photograph 2 was displayed on Defendant’s Instagram Account at

24 www.instagram.com at URL: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxBSrz5gX-M/ (Exhibit 2-

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Infringement #2).
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30. A copy of Photograph 3 was displayed on Defendant’s Instagram Account at
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1 www.instagram.com at URL: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxBSrz5gX-M/ and at URL:

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https://www.instagram.com/stephensonlance/?hl=en (Exhibit 2-Infringement #3-4).
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31. A copy of Photograph 4 was displayed on Defendant’s Instagram Account at
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www.instagram.com at URL: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxBSrz5gX-M/ (Exhibit 2-
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Infringement #5).
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7 32. A copy of Photograph 5 was displayed on Defendant’s Instagram Account at

8 www.instagram.com (Exhibit 2-Infringement #6).

9 33. Without permission or authorization from Plaintiff, Defendant volitionally selected,
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copied, stored and displayed each of Plaintiff’s copyright protected Photographs as are set forth in
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Exhibit “1” on the Account.
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34. Upon information and belief, the Photographs were copied, stored and displayed
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14 without license or permission, thereby infringing on Plaintiff's copyrights (hereinafter singularly

15 the “Infringement” and collectively the “Infringements”).

16 35. Each Infringement, with the exception of Infringement #6, includes a URL
17 (“Uniform Resource Locator”) for a fixed tangible medium of expression that was sufficiently
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permanent or stable to permit it to be communicated for a period of more than a transitory duration
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and therefore constitute a specific infringement. 17 U.S.C. §106(5); Perfect 10, Inc. v.
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Amazon.com, Inc.508 F.3d 1146, 1160 (9th Cir. 2007).
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22 36. Each Infringement is a copy of the vast majority of Plaintiff's original image that

23 was directly copied and stored by Defendant on the Account.

24 37. Upon information and belief, Defendant takes an active and pervasive role in the
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content posted on its Account, including, but not limited to copying, posting, selecting,
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commenting on and/or displaying images including but not limited to Plaintiff's Photographs.
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PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT
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1 38. Upon information and belief, the Photographs were willfully and volitionally
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posted to the Account by Defendant.
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39. Upon information and belief, Defendant engaged in the Infringements knowingly
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and in violation of applicable United States Copyright Laws.
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40. Upon information and belief, Defendant has the legal right and ability to control
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7 and limit the infringing activities on its Account and exercised and/or had the right and ability to

8 exercise such right.

9 41. Upon information and belief, Defendant monitors the content on its Account.
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42. Upon information and belief, Defendant has received a financial benefit directly
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attributable to the Infringements.
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43. Upon information and belief, the Infringements increased traffic to the Account
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14 and, in turn, caused Defendant to realize an increase in his notoriety and applicable social media

15 presence whereby Defendant’s own prestige increased, expanding his professional opportunities

16 and financially benefiting Defendant.

17 44. Upon information and belief, a large number of people have viewed the unlawful
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copies of the Photographs on the Account.
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45. Upon information and belief, Defendant at all times had the ability to stop the
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reproduction and display of Plaintiff's copyrighted material.
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22 46. Defendant's use of the Photographs, if widespread, would harm Plaintiff's potential

23 market for the Photographs.

24 47. As a result of Defendant's misconduct, Plaintiff has been substantially harmed.

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FIRST COUNT
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(Direct Copyright Infringement, 17 U.S.C. §501 et seq.)
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48. Plaintiff repeats and incorporates by reference the allegations contained in the
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1 preceding paragraphs, as though set forth in full herein.

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49. The Photographs are original, creative works in which Plaintiff owns valid
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copyright properly registered with the United States Copyright Office.
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50. Plaintiff has not licensed Defendant the right to use the Photographs in any manner,
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nor has Plaintiff assigned any of its exclusive rights in the Copyrights to Defendant.
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7 51. Without permission or authorization from Plaintiff and in willful violation of

8 Plaintiff's rights under 17 U.S.C. §106, Defendant improperly and illegally copied, stored,
9 reproduced, distributed, adapted, and/or publicly displayed works copyrighted by Plaintiff thereby
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violating one of Plaintiff's exclusive rights in its copyrights.
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52. Defendant's reproduction of the Photographs and display of the Photographs on the
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Account constitutes willful copyright infringement. Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone
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14 Service Co., Inc., 499 U.S. 340, 361 (1991).

15 53. As a result of Defendant's violations of Title 17 of the U.S. Code, Plaintiff is entitled

16 to an award of actual damages and disgorgement of all of Defendant's profits attributable to the
17 infringements as provided by 17 U.S.C. § 504 in an amount to be proven or, in the alternative, at
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Plaintiff's election, an award for statutory damages against Defendant in an amount up to
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$150,000.00 for each infringement pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504(c).
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54. As a result of the Defendant's violations of Title 17 of the U.S. Code, the court in
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22 its discretion may allow the recovery of full costs as well as reasonable attorney's fees and costs

23 pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 505 from Defendant.

24 55. As a result of Defendant's violations of Title 17 of the U.S. Code, Plaintiff is entitled
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to injunctive relief to prevent or restrain infringement of his copyright pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 502.
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27 JURY DEMAND

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56. Plaintiff hereby demands a trial of this action by jury.
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PRAYER FOR RELIEF
3 WHEREFORE Plaintiff respectfully requests judgment as follows:
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That the Court enters a judgment finding that Defendant has infringed upon Plaintiff's
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rights to the Photographs in violation of 17 U.S.C. §501 et seq. and award damages and monetary
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relief as follows:
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a. finding that Defendant infringed upon Plaintiff's copyright interest in the
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9 Photograph by copying and displaying without a license or consent;

10 b. for an award of actual damages and disgorgement of all of Defendant's

11 profits attributable to the infringements as provided by 17 U.S.C. § 504 in
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an amount to be proven or, in the alternative, at Plaintiff's election, an award
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for statutory damages against Defendant in an amount up to $150,000.00
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for each infringement pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504(c), whichever is larger;
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16 c. for an order pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 502(a) enjoining Defendant from any

17 infringing use of any of Plaintiff's works;

18 d. for costs of litigation and reasonable attorney's fees against Defendant

19 pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 505;
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e. for pre judgment interest as permitted by law; and
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f. for any other relief the Court deems just and proper.
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23

24 DATED: January 27, 2022

25 SANDERS LAW GROUP

26 By: /s/ Craig B. Sanders

Craig B. Sanders, Esq.
27
100 Garden City Plaza, Suite 500
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1 Garden City, NY 11530

Tel: (516) 203-7600
2
Email: csanders@sanderslaw.group
3 File No.: 123875
Attorneys for Plaintiff
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