Leonard v. Stemtech International — civil — affirmance, mostly — Shwartz

A “stem cell photographer” sued a nutritional-supplement company for copyright infringement. He took black-and-white photographs of stem cells through electron microscopes and then colored them in, at a time when few others were able to. The company wanted to use two of his pictures in its magazine but thought his $950 licensing fee was too high, so it sent him $500 and used the images, not just in its magazine but in many other marketing materials. After a trial, the jury returned a verdict in the photographer’s favor for $1.6 million. The company appealed the denial of its new-trial motion on secondary liability and various damages and fees grounds, and Leonard appealed the denial of prejudgment interest and other points. Today the Third Circuit affirmed on all grounds except that it vacated the order denying prejudgment interest. The court found many of the company’s arguments waived for failure to object below or develop them on appeal.

The slip opinion includes the two stem-cell images at issue. The Third Circuit very rarely includes visual images in the bodies of its opinions, but I think it’s a great idea and hope the court does it more often.

Joining Shwartz were Fuentes and Restrepo. Arguing counsel were Kathleen Kushi Carter of Hollins Law for the photographer and Jan Berlage of Gohn Hankey for the company.