State Street’s Sconnie Nation clothing store could soon face a lawsuit after a local photojournalist says the company illegally reproduced his image on Wisconsin-themed merchandise.
Michael Kienitz said he will file charges against Sconnie for taking and reproducing his photograph of Mayor Paul Soglin on T-shirts that say ‘Sorry for Partying.’ He said the copyright notice is embedded in the photograph’s file on the city of Madison website where the image appears.
“Without attribution or compensation, [Sconnie] chose to just freely, even though they could have easily found out who the author of this copyrighted work is, reproduced [the image],” Kienitz said.
Kienitz said he retains the copyright of the image and did not give Sconnie permission to use it.
“This is not an accident,” Kienitz said. “This is a method of operating a ‘highly profitable business.’”
Sconnie sells apparel celebrating Wisconsin teams like the Brewers and Packers, but its use of copyright-protected photos could lead to legal trouble. Kienitz said Sconnie has also used Associate Press photographer Morry Gash’s image of Ryan Braun on their “Beast Mode” T-shirt without his permission.
Kienitz said he contacted the Associated Press about Gash’s photograph. The AP said they appreciated the matter being brought to their attention but have not taken any legal action yet, according to Kienitz.
Sconnie argues they can use Kienitz’s image under the fair use doctrine of U.S. copyright law, which says images can be reproduced for purposes like news reporting or educational use.
Co-owner Troy Vosseler said Kienitz’s claim does not have merit and believes the use of the image is classified as fair use and can be used legally.
“The image of the mayor, combined with the ‘Sorry for Partying’ text and color scheme is used as a piece of timely, social commentary on the mayor’s role in the Mifflin Street Block Party,” Vosseler said in an e-mail.
Professor Robert Drechsel, an expert on media law, said determining whether or not a situation classifies as fair use is determined on a case-by-case basis. But he said Sconnie’s decision to use the photographers’ work on merchandise “sounds risky.”
“The more commercial your use is, probably the less likely it is to be fair use,” Drechsel said.
In addition, Vosseler said because the image was “substantially transformed by changing colors and adding text to change the context of the image,” the purpose of the image falls under the fair-use argument.
Mark Kauzlarich contributed to this report.
