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Both Sides' Summary Judgment Motions Denied in Copyright Infringement Suit Over Jimi Hendrix Photo

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Complex Media's motion for summary judgment to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against the company by photographer Baron Wolman over a photograph he had taken of Jimi Hendrix. Baron A. Wolman Archives Trust v. Complex Media Inc., 20 Civ. 152. Wolman claimed that in November 2019 he discovered the Hendrix photo had appeared without his permission in the complex.com 2012 article "A Detailed History of Celebrity Sex Tapes." Wolman filed suit in January 2020 but died in November of that year before discovery began. His trustee has continued the litigation. In New York federal courts, the three-year statute of limitations in 17 U.S.C. §507(b) of the federal Copyright Act for filing a copyright suit is counted from when a plaintiff knew or should have reasonably known of an alleged infringement. In denying Complex Media's summary judgment motion, Southern District Judge Edgardo Ramos explained: "Courts in this [Second Appeals Court] Circuit have repeatedly held that it is the defendant's burden to establish that the plaintiff had inquiry notice. … Here, while Complex Media states in its reply brief that there was inquiry notice, it proffers no facts in support of that position — only speculation that Wolman could have used image reverse software to locate allegedly infringing photographs online." But District Judge Ramos also denied the Wolman Trust's summary judgment motion as to infringement by noting "Complex Media has raised several potential affirmative defenses in its answer, including, among others, authorized use, fair use, de minimis use, and challenges to the validity of Wolman's copyright registration."