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> Bell’s complaint alleges he took the photograph in March 2000. However, the defense noted the skyline photo shows green grass and a working fountain. The defe
by xref 6y ago
> Bell’s complaint alleges he took the photograph in March 2000. However, the defense noted the skyline photo shows green grass and a working fountain. The defense argued that grass in Indianapolis is rarely green in March, and that records show the city did not turn the fountain on until April 2000. The company also pointed to Bell’s testimony that on the day he allegedly took the photograph, he took another skyline photo from the same location later that night. In the nighttime photograph, trees visible under streetlights have no leaves, whereas the same trees in the daytime photograph appear thick with foliage.
> In its verdict, the jury determined that Bell had not proved that he “authored the Indianapolis Skyline Photo, that he owns a copyright in it, and that he registered it with the Copyright Office.”
So from a previous trial, the guy couldn’t even prove the most basic claim that he’s the copyright holder.
- londons_explore 6y ago> records show the city did not turn the fountain on until April 2000 This is the kind of thing you pay defence lawyers for... I mean, I wouldn't even expect the city to keep records of when the fountain was switched on 20 years ago, let alone be able to get hold of them! And imagine you went to all that effort only to be told "yeah, they were turned on in march that year"...
- gamblor956 6y agoThat's exactly the kind of thing a parks or utilities department would keep track of, since it bears heavily on staffing schedules, maintenance, cleaning, budget, etc.
- Cthulhu_ 6y agoAnd exactly the reason why archiving is so important, even though the process and data stored seems trivial and wasteful. Mind you there's plenty of archiving still going on, but it's personal / behavioural data.
- londons_explore 6y agoI could totally imagine there being a team of ~8 people responsible for a few parks. Each day, the foreman decides what to work on (cutting trees, weeding, cleaning the pond, picking litter, repainting railings, etc.). The filling of the fountain might not be planned/scheduled, but simply because the forman saw the sun was out and decided today is the day to switch it on. For that kind of team, there isn't much need to keep paper records.
- gilrain 6y agoAnd does this sort of team exist anywhere outside your imagination? That seems a key point.
- bananabiscuit 6y agoThis comment seems un-necessarily hostile. But yes, I have worked at a small construction company that operated like this with only very coarse grained record keeping.
- devnonymous 6y agoConsidering that the defence lawyers are representing a real estate company this isn't entirely surprising. The firm would be looking up such records every day.
- londons_explore 6y agoSurely the photographer would have gone to his PC and found the raw file and matched it up pixel for pixel for verification before filing a lawsuit? Perhaps he did, and then thought "I'll file anyway, nobody will know"?
- antihero 6y agoIsn't that perjury? Shouldn't he be in jail?
- simonh 6y agoYou'd have to prove that the inaccuracy was deliberate and not simply a mistake, which can be very difficult.