US photographer takes on South Carolina city over Santa Claus image
A US-based photographer has filed a copyright infringement claim against the City of Aiken in South Carolina for using his image without seeking permission.
Lance Knowles, who resides in Aiken County, South Carolina, filed his complaint on Monday, July 30 at the US District Court for the District of South Carolina.
In December 2016, Knowles shared an image on his Instagram with the caption “ Romantic Walks with Santa Claus”, showing Santa walking hand-in-hand with Mrs Claus in a Christmas setting.
Aiken’s tourism Instagram account then commented “What a perfect scene” on the image.
Knowles alleged that a year later, in November 2017, Aiken copied the image on its own website to promote the ‘Night of a 1,000 Lights’ event.
He added, however, that he was in fact credited for the image.
The photographer said that the fact Aiken credited him for the photograph proved that the city knew it was copying his work, yet it “still used it as if it were their own and/or as if they had an exclusive licence for its use in any format”.
Knowles also claimed that Aiken shared the image on its Facebook page at the same time. He alleged that the image was used as part of a paid sponsored content advert designed to increase the city’s exposure on Facebook.
The claim said that the Facebook content featuring Knowles’s image generated at least 6,600 reactions, 56 comments and 436 shares.
“This is way more exposure than defendant would get for their typical Facebook posts during this time period,” said the claim.
In addition, Knowles alleged that the city used the image without his permission on its own Instagram account and in a mass email which was sent to as many as 14,000 people.
Knowles is seeking damages and a permanent injunction stopping Aiken from using the photograph in the future.
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