Photographer Sues Spiegel Parent Otto GmbH
A Chicago photographer has filed a lawsuit against Spiegel’s parent company Otto GmbH, claiming the cataloger violated a contract by using their images overseas.
Peter Rosenbaum Photography Corp. filed the lawsuit against Otto GmbH and two companies in which Otto owns a majority stake: Otto Sumisho Inc. of Japan and Otto Doosan Mail Order Ltd. of South Korea. The court papers allege that at least 153 images sold by Rosenbaum to Spiegel Inc. for use in Spiegel’s catalogs were given to Doosan and Sumisho, in violation of the photographer’s contract.
Spiegel, a subsidiary of Otto GmbH (formerly Otto Versand GmbH), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2003 and is not a defendant in the suit.
Debbie Koopman, a spokeswoman for Spiegel, said she was not familiar with the lawsuit, and that as a general rule Spiegel does not comment on pending litigation.
A spokesperson from Otto was not available at deadline.
Rosenbaum has asked the United States District Court for the North-eastern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, to rule that Doosan and Sumisho are guilty of copyright infringement, and that all three companies are guilty of violating the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization Act as the result of sharing the images through a common database.
Rosenbaum claims that from 1991 through 2003, his company furnished photographs for Spiegel to use in the catalog and on the Web site for which the photos had been taken, and in specialty or sales catalogs that were successors to the initial catalog. Any additional use would require Rosenbaum’s consent, according to the contract.
Spiegel was not permitted to furnish the photos to any other entity, alleged Rosenbaum.
Between 2000 and 2003, Sumisho and Doosan used images Rosenbaum created for Spiegel in their catalogs and on their Web sites, the papers allege. They further state that a number of images Rosenbaum created were
