Photographer sues Netflix for using his photo in “Stranger Things” without permission
Sep 19, 2018
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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Perhaps you remember the case from earlier this year, when Netflix was accused of using a storm image without permission for its hit show Stranger Things. Photographer Sean R. Heavey took the photo, and he is now filing a lawsuit against Netflix for copyright infringement.
Heavey captured the photo of the supercell on 10 July 2010 near Hinsdale, Valley County, Montana and titled it The Mothership. The lawsuit states that a great effort was involved in taking this photo, including “careful timing, as well as significant time and energy.”
“Sean tracked and followed the storm depicted in ‘The Mothership’ for many hours, beginning as it crossed the Montana/Canada border heading South. Sean used his technical expertise to digitally combine four independent, vertically-framed panoramic photographs to create ‘The Mothership.’ The four photographs combined to create ‘The Mothership’ were the result of numerous sequences of experimentation by Sean with various framing, exposure, shutter speed, and movement options.”
The Mothership was featured in several publications and featured on different websites. On 26 November 2010, Heavey registered the image with the United States Copyright Office.
As the photographer previously explained, his work was noticed in Beyond Stranger Things behind-the-scenes special, being used in concept art for the show. Heavey claimed that Netflix had never asked them for the permission. And considering that the photo isn’t licensed with any stock agency, they couldn’t have bought it either.
Back in May when this happened, Heavey contacted Netflix regarding the issue. However, the reply he reportedly got was that “they used a similar cloud formation” and that “he can’t copyright storm clouds in general.” According to the photographer, this is the reply he keeps getting even now. Great Falls Tribune writes that this is the answer Heavey got from Netflix attorney Jarin Jackson, too.
Sean Heavey filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court in Great Falls. He claims that he contacted Netflix several times regarding the issue, but that they refused to remove the infringing photo. In the lawsuit, Heavy seeks to prevent Netflix from further using the photo without permission. Also, he seeks damages and legal fees, although the amount hasn’t been specified in the lawsuit.
As I’ve said before, this looks like the same photo to me. There are just too many similarities, regardless of the fact that the photo was edited to fit the Stranger Things mood. I believe that filing a lawsuit is a good call, and in my opinion, Heavey has a good chance of winning it. What do you think?
[via Great Falls Tribune]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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8 responses to “Photographer sues Netflix for using his photo in “Stranger Things” without permission”
He should win but I can’t help but think about that guy who stole Instagram photos and sold them in New York. Because he changed the images just slightly they were considered different and he won.
Well and in this case they changed quite a bit from the original image. I think there is a legal precedent that once you alter a certain percentage of the photo, it is legally considered a new image and therefore not copyright infringement.
Yes, still super uncool of Netflix. What a shady thing to do.
15% change is all that is needed
The only angle I can think of would be to try and compare it to something like building a house. If the wood is stolen from a lumber yard the lumber yard doesn’t own the house but they should still be compensated for the stolen lumber. There should still be a penalty for the theft.
Well, real estate law is pretty clear – the lumber yard only needs to place a lien against the homeowner/builder who stole the lumber. This makes for an unclear title, and homeowner can’t sell the home or profit from it until the lien is cleared. Seems it should be similar in copyright law. If it can be proven they used a copyrighted image as their starting point, they should pay, even if the image was heavily edited. If the original image is so ‘general’ that it could be “any storm cloud formation” they can easily send someone right out to take another photo. Right?! Yeah…..I thought not.
Rather than comparing the side by side of each half
The comparing of the full image next to each other makes it easier to spot the similarities
The dark line on the left and the double dark line on the right side of the cloud match
That little crescent moon shape of the cloud matches.
They used his photo.
And since they’re using it for profit, fair use wont apply even if they edited the hell out of it.
https://s23527.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/stranger-things-745×745.jpg.optimal.jpg
He has to win, otherwise we photographers will face a very dark future. Shame on you Netflix.