COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT  AGAINST FORMER MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF  JOE ARPAIO LIKELY TO GO TO TRIAL THIS SUMMER 

  PHOENIX, ARIZONA - 04/05/2017 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

After a failed attempt by the parties to reach an out-of-court resolution, it appears the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by professional photographer David E. Kelly against former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County is likely headed to trial this summer. The case hinges on the alleged misappropriation of Mr. Kelly's globally famous and copyrighted “Remembering September 11, 2001” photograph, taken during Game 1 of the 2001 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees. The parties met in Phoenix last week to try to settle the dispute, with Mr. Kelly demanding $3 million in damages to resolve the case without a trial; Mr. Arpaio and his attorneys rejected that demand. The lawsuit was originally filed in December 2015. 

“This was the parties’ last chance to resolve the case without going to trial. Now, it appears we will have to duke it out in court,” said Mr. Kelly’s lead counsel, Manotti L. Jenkins. “Coincidentally, the judge for this case is federal court Judge G. Murray Snow, who is the same judge who recently held Mr. Arpaio in contempt for violating the judge’s Order in an unrelated Civil Rights case,” Mr. Jenkins continued. 

The genesis of the dispute was the 2002 theft of Mr. Kelly’s famous copyrighted photograph by former Major League baseball player, Raymond Young after Mr. Kelly entered into an agreement with Mr. Young for the latter to make sales of the photograph. Mr. Young almost immediately began to misrepresent himself as the owner of the copyrighted photograph, as well as to create phony business cards in the name of Mr. Kelly’s company, Big League Photos, and to illegally duplicate massive quantities of the copyrighted photographs and posters for sale, in violation of the agreement. In 2008, Mr. Kelly was successful in obtaining a $1.125 million judgment against Mr. Young for breach of contract and related counts in a Maricopa County Superior Court case. 

Mr. Kelly contends that Mr. Young, who was well known in the criminal justice system of Maricopa County and other local jurisdictions, later met with Sheriff Arpaio after the Superior Court case when the sheriff arrested [Young] for not appearing at the related Superior Court debtor’s examination. During that meeting with the sheriff, Mr. Young had at least one copy of the copyrighted poster in his possession. A very important piece of evidence in the case is a photograph of the two men holding the copyrighted poster, with a handwritten comment by Mr. Young stating that he had donated 3,000 copies of the poster to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. Mr. Kelly alleges in his Complaint that the former sheriff accepted the copies and sold them at local auctions, in exchange for not arresting Mr. Young for having committed crimes against Mr. Kelly. If proven, such sales by Mr. Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office would violate the federal Copyright Act, and would potentially subject the former sheriff and the County to damages for willful copyright infringement. Mr. Kelly contends that local Maricopa County citizens and others unwittingly purchased the posters at auctions, not realizing the origin of the posters and the fact that such sales violated his rights.

The exact date for the trial has not yet been set. For more information, please contact Attorney Manotti L. Jenkins at (312) 208-9537/mj@mljlawoffices.com or Attorney LaShawn D. Jenkins at (602) 283-9868/lashawn.jenkins@thejenkinslawfirm.com. 

Contact: Manotti L. Jenkins, Esq. 
Law Offices of Manotti L. Jenkins, LTD. 
(312) 208-9537/mj@mljawoffices.com 

Contact: LaShawn Jenkins, Esq. 
Jenkins Law Firm 
(602) 283-9868/lashawn.jenkins@thejenkinslawfirm.com