Volume VII

Issue : 12: September 10, 2009

• Microsoft Obtains Stay of Injunction Prohibiting Sales of MS Word
• Apple Sued For Copyright Infringement for i.TV App Icon
• Court Decides Against Injunction for Misleading Internet Speed
• Twitter Preliminarily Denied TWEET Trade Mark
• Century 21 Sues Rogers Over Copyright Infringement
• DISH Ordered to Pay US$200M to TiVo But Not Found Wilful
• McDonalds Does Not Have Exclusive Right to Mc Prefix in Malaysia
• Facebook to Comply with Canadian Privacy Recommendations

Home > Volume VII > Issue 12: September 10, 2009 > Apple Sued For Copyright Infringement for i.TV App Icon

Apple Sued For Copyright Infringement for i.TV App Icon

On August 19, 2009, photographer Louis Psihoyos sued Apple Inc. (Psihoyos v. Apple 09-cv-7315, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan)) for damages in the amount of US$2million. Psihoyos alleges that an icon identifying the i.TV iPhone application infringes his copyright in the image known as "The Information Revolution, 500 Monitors" or "1000 TVs" (among other names), copyrighted by him in 2005. Psihoyos had previously sued Apple in 2007 for infringement of the same image in its advertising of the Apple TV, and it is assumed that the parties settled that claim as Psihoyos voluntarily dismissed the application shortly after bringing it.

The action is interesting, in that Psihoyos has named the distributors of the application (Apple Inc. and Apple Computers, Inc.) in the suit, but has not named the creator of the application (i.TV). The application itself was offered for free on the Apple online store.

The original image can be viewed at:

http://www.psihoyos.com/pages/Concepts/pages/01500tvs.html.

A side by side comparison of the images is currently available at:

http://shorl.com/mifrybrapymoho

For additional information, visit:

http://shorl.com/gusitevydifi