$1.6M for Photo Copyright Infringement Excessive, Petition

A jury award of $1.6 million for infringement of copyrights in stem cell photographs was grossly excessive considering the photographer’s 16-year licensing history, a petition for U.S. Supreme Court review said (Stemtech Int’l, Inc. v. Leonard, U.S., No. 16-928, review sought 1/24/17).

Andrew Paul Leonard’s APL Microscopic had received an average of only $1,000 per year in license royalties, with no one license higher than $6,500. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that Leonard’s expert could estimate a fair market value of a license it would have negotiated with Stemtech Health Sciences Inc. ...