Prokos v. Sage Publications Inc., et al. Case No. 1:18-cv-04194-AT (S.D.N.Y. 2018).
Another major publisher of academics works was sued for copyright infringement this month.
On May 10,2018, a professional photographer, Andrew Prokos, filed suit against Sage Publications for infringing use of a photo on the cover of at least 15 separate textbooks. Sage originally licensed the photo at issue for use on the cover of two separate textbooks. Sage used the photo according to these two licenses, but then apparently went on to use the photo both on their website and on the cover of 15 more textbooks.
As Prokos registered the work with the United States Copyright Office prior to the infringing uses, he is requesting both the amount of damages incurred to his professional photography business and the statutory damages available under the Copyright Act of up to $150,000 per infringement. In the case of repeated use such as this one, statutory damages alone can claim quite a hefty toll for the use of one photo. However, it is much more likely that this case (like most cases) will settle before any total of statutory damages awarded.