Cosmetic surgery firm sued over ‘smaller breasts’ blog image
A Florida-based photo agency has accused San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center of using a copyright-protected image without authorisation on a web page about breast implants.
Mavrix Photo filed its copyright complaint at the US District Court for the Central District of California on Friday, December 14.
At the centre of the complaint is a colour photograph of a woman’s torso and head. The unidentified woman, who is wearing a hat covering her face and is typing on a mobile phone, is wearing just a bra.
Mavrix registered its image with the US Copyright Office in 2010 (VA 1-721-802).
However, according to the complaint, cosmetic surgery company San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center used the protected image without authorisation for commercial purposes.
Mavrix claimed that San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center gained access to its image online, via Mavrix’s own website or social media accounts, or via third-party platforms such as Tumblr or Pinterest.
The cosmetic surgery company then featured the image in articles and for advertising purposes on its website, www.sfcosmeticsurgery.com, according to Mavrix.
The complaint featured a screenshot of a web page on the cosmetic surgery company’s site, dated 2011. On the page is a blog post called “Why Are Smaller Breast Implants the New Trend?”.
Under the blog’s headline, two images are featured in the same frame. The image on the left depicts a woman in a bikini in the sea, with the image on the right purporting to be Mavrix’s copyright-protected image.
Today, December 17, the blog post remains active but does not contain either image.
The article’s text, under the images, discusses a shift noticed by plastic surgeons where, rather than requesting noticeably larger breast augmentations, many women interested in surgery are now looking for smaller, more natural looking breast implants, with some even “downsizing”.
It goes on to mention how Hollywood may have encouraged this new trend, as a number of female celebrities—such as Victoria Beckham and Pamela Anderson—have “exchanged their large implants for smaller ones”.
Mavrix said that San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center “exploited” the image by sharing it on multiple website posts.
The photo agency said it has “suffered damages” as a result of the infringement, while the cosmetic surgery company obtained profits that it would not have gained without the infringement.
Mavrix argued that it is entitled to a disgorgement of San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center’s profits, and also asked the court to award the costs of the action, attorneys’ fees, and pre-judgment interest.
Finally, Mavrix requested that San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center be enjoined from infringing the photograph at the centre of the dispute.
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