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12 June 2017Copyright

The Beverly Hills Hotel sued for using photo of actress

Ireland-based Iconic Images has filed a copyright complaint against The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles for allegedly infringing a photograph.

Iconic, a company that specialises in the acquisition and management of right of photograph archives, filed its lawsuit on Thursday, June 8, at the US District Court for the Central District of California.

The suit alleged that five-star The Beverly Hills Hotel had displayed an image by photographer Terence O’Neill without any licence or payment.

The photo is known as “The Morning After” and is an image of American actress Faye Dunaway at the pool of The Beverly Hills Hotel in the early morning, following her receipt of Best Actress honours at the 1977 Academy Awards.

In April 2013, Iconic acquired all rights and interests, including the copyright, in the photo.

According to the complaint, the hotel had displayed the image and used it for marketing materials.

Iconic said that in February, its counsel sent a cease-and-desist letter to the hotel.

Settlement talks began “albeit at an uncomfortably slow pace” until May, when it came to the attention of Iconic that the “scope of defendants’ infringing uses of the photo was far more extensive, numerous, unabashedly commercial and wilful than even previously realised,” said the claim.

Iconic also claimed that the hotel had placed a watermark of the Beverly Hills Collection on the image being displayed in the hotel.

The Ireland-based company has asked the court to enjoin The Beverly Hills Hotel from using the photograph, as well as damages for wilful infringement.

Iconic has also demanded jury trial.

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