August Image, LLC is one of the most litigious copyright infringement plaintiffs in the United States. As of this writing, it has been a named party in more than 110 federal lawsuits, many of which surround the allegation that a defendant or defendants used an image or images without consent, seeking a financial windfall from such use.
If you have received a copyright infringement demand letter from or have been named in a lawsuit by August Image, LLC, then feel free to contact us. We have represented many defendants and pre-suit respondents against August Image, LLC as well as its legal counsel in the past.
August Image, LLC should be taken seriously. As mentioned, it is one of the copyright registrants that sue people and companies after it sends demand letters. And its counsel typically does not back down without a fight, particularly if they are up against an unrepresented individual or company or a lawyer who is not seasoned in copyright law.
But just because August Image, LLC is super litigious doesn’t mean that it wins every case. In fact, when there are facts to support a fair use defense, August Image, LLC has folded at the hands of a federal judge in the past.
One such example is the case of August Image, LLC v. Girard Entertainment & Media, LLC, a case decided in New York federal court.
In that case, August Image sued the defendants who owned and operated news sites after publishing an article depicting an Instagram post that featured a photo of the cast of the hit TV show Friends.
The defendants moved for judgment on the pleadings, which was granted.
David Schwimmer, a cast member of Friends, posted the photo on his Instagram account and then the defendants used a screenshot of the post to illustrate an article about whether a Friends reboot could count on aging fans to rekindle love of the TV show.
The article itself cited the post, which was relevant to the topic of the article, because, in the Instagram post, Schwimmer confirmed that the cast agreed on a Friends special.
Here, the court looked at fair use for purposes of comment or news reporting. In cases involving news about celebrities, courts have held that publishing a copyrighted photo included in a social media post is transformative when the purpose is to report or comment on the post, which is itself the subject of the story. Also, because the photo didn’t appear on its own but as part of the Instagram post used to illustrate the article, the photo wasn’t in competition with the article and thus didn’t take away from a normal license of August Image.
This will not be the result in every case against August Image, LLC and thus it is important to hire seasoned copyright counsel before proceeding in a battle against the company.