The Parties Have Reached a Settlement, and the Case Has Been Dismissed
This case, on which we have reported several times in the past (mid-2019, September 2019, June 2020, and August 2020), finally ended in a settlement several months ago. The legal dispute was instigated in May of 2019 when James Bass ("Bass"), a professional photographer, filed suit against Syracuse University ("Syracuse") for what he claimed were infringing uses of photographs he had taken of the Syracuse men's basketball team.
Bass's Complaint alleged that he had authorized Syracuse to use the photos only for social media but that Syracuse exceeded the permission by using the photos on its website, on billboards, and in print media like event tickets and programs. In answering the complaint, Syracuse denied most of Bass's substantive allegations, leading to a prolonged back-and-forth of motions and memos and a round of court-mandated mediation, which failed to settle the case. After Bass's Motion for partial summary judgment was mostly denied in August of 2020, the Court scheduled a jury trial for the case, planning to hold it in April of 2021.
In the months leading up to trial, both sides underwent some shuffling of counsel. Ultimately, though, the parties were able to come to a private resolution. On March 26, 2021, the court issued an Order that dismissed the case by reason of settlement, and the judge later signed Bass's Stipulation of Dismissal, which was then filed on April 16, 2021.