11th Circuit Affirms Miami District Court's Fair Use Ruling in 'Katz v. Chevaldina'
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the U.S. District Court in Miami was correct when it ruled in 2014 that blogger Irina Chevaldina's use of an unflattering photo of Miami Heat minority owner Raanan Katz in a blog…
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post critical of Katz's business practices constitutes fair use. Katz had sued Chevaldina for copyright infringement, prompting outcry from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other groups. Katz had also sued Google for not complying with a takedown notice related to the photo but later dropped the search engine company from the lawsuit (see 1505080057). A three-judge 11th Circuit panel -- Judges Susan Black, Gerard Tjoflat and Charles Wilson -- affirmed the 2014 ruling by Magistrate Judge Chris McAliley in Katz v. Chevaldina, with the panel saying Thursday that use of the photo of Katz in Chevaldina's blog posts “was of a primarily educational, rather than commercial, character. Chevaldina unabashedly criticized and commented on the dealings of Katz, his businesses, and his lawyers. Chevaldina’s blog posts sought to warn and educate others about the alleged nefariousness of Katz, and she made no money from her use of the photo.” Chevaldina's use of the photo can also be considered transformative, because “in the context of the blog post’s surrounding commentary, she used Katz’s purportedly 'ugly' and 'compromising' appearance to ridicule and satirize his character,” the 11th Circuit panel said. It admonished Katz for “improper” motivations for pursuing his case. “Instead of using the law for its intended purposes of fostering ideas and expression, Plaintiff obtained the photograph’s copyright solely for the purpose of suppressing Defendant’s free speech,” the 11th Circuit said. “People who go around trying to buy up bad pictures of themselves in the hope they can suppress them won't succeed,” said Center for Individual Rights General Counsel Michael Rosman, who represented Chevaldina at the 11th Circuit, in a blog post. Katz lawyer Alan Kluger didn't comment. EFF, which filed an amicus brief on Chevaldina's behalf, said the 11th Circuit's ruling is significant because “although copyright law is frequently misused as a tool to censor speech, it rarely makes it into court to be challenged. And here, the court stopped the plaintiff in his tracks.”