The Today Show from U.S. TV channel NBC Universal is being sued by photographer Alexander Stross for multiple copyright infringement instances. Stross accused the daytime show of using his material on TV and on the Internet without permission.
The Texan photographer filed a case against The Today Show at a Texan federal court. He alleged that the show used a total of eight photographs not only on the show but also in its various social media accounts such as twitter and on its website, without obtaining copyrights from him, TorrentFreak reported Jan. 31, Sunday.
Stross took a series of photographs of microhouses in Texas. The photos attracted attention earlier in January. The morning show also featured the photos in one of its segment on live broadcast, which was seen by millions of viewers. One of his photos was also used by The Today Show in a tweet, without permission and proper credit, the news site reported.
The complaint stated that, "The same day as the On-Air Segment, The Today Show 'Tweeted' about the story -- reproducing one of the Photographs, with no attribution at all."
The day following the show when the photos were used, The Today Show's official website published online an article featuring the microhouse photos. The article credited a third party for the photos, the report noted. The complaint stated that, "Defendant ascribed a false and misleading credit to each Photograph stating 'Courtesy of Matt Garcia Design,' as reflected below."
Stross tried getting in touch with the morning show's management regarding giving his photos proper credit to no avail. He emailed the show again after one month without receiving a response, TorrentFreak reported. A producer of the show finally replied to Stross' complaints when he hired attorneys for the issue, saying that the architect of the microhouses granted permission to have the photos used. An internal correspondence, however, claimed that permission was not granted at the time the photos were used, TorrentFreak added.
NBC Universal is not new in dealing with copyright infringement cases. It once filed a case against The Pirate Bay in court in 2009, TorrentFreak reported.
In 2013, NBC Universal's Rick Cotton explained the company's anti-piracy goals in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. The firm usually is on the complainant's side of the law when dealing with copyright issues.
Stross' case may cost the company millions of dollars for actual and statutory damages, the site reported. Especially after acknowledging on the show that Stross took the microhouse shots, but still without getting the permission to use the material, the complaint stated.
