OPINION AND ORDERI. INTRODUCTION In June of 2017, Plaintiff Jonathan Otto attended a friend’s wedding at the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey. To the surprise of the celebrants, President Trump, the owner of the venue, crashed the wedding. The guests seem to have been delighted by the appearance of this unexpected guest, who lingered at the reception to take photographs with the newlyweds and sign autographs. Otto took the opportunity to capture the moment and snapped a photo on his iPhone, and later texted it to another guest at the wedding, Sean Burke. The next morning, Otto discovered that the image had gone viral: it had been published on the social media platform Instagram and in several media outlets, including Esquire.com, operated by Defendant Hearst Communications. Perhaps recognizing a lucrative business opportunity, Otto retained counsel the following day and quickly filed a copyright in the image. Otto brought this action, among several others against various media publishers, alleging that his copyright in the photograph had been infringed. Before the court are cross motions for partial summary judgment. Otto seeks judgment on Hearst’s liability for copyright infringement and the affirmative defenses asserted by Defendant. Pl.’s Memo iso Mot. for Part. Summ. J. (Dkt. No. 36) (“Pl.’s Memo”). Defendant seeks judgment on its fair use defense and on whether Hearst’s alleged infringement was willful. Def.’s Memo iso Mot. for Part. Summ. J. and Opp. to Pl.’s Mot. for Summ. J. (Dkt. No. 51) (“Def.’s Memo.”). Stealing a copyrighted photograph to illustrate a news article, without adding new understanding or meaning to the work, does not transform its purpose — regardless of whether that photograph was created for commercial or personal use. For this reason, among others, Plaintiff’s motion is granted in whole and Defendant’s motion is denied in whole.II. BACKGROUND1A. Facts1. The PartiesPlaintiff in this matter is Jonathan Otto, a Vice President at Deustche Bank. This suit arose from a photograph Otto took on his iPhone at a private wedding, which was subsequently published by several media outlets, including Defendant. Otto, self-described as just a “guy with an iPhone,” is not and has never been a professional photographer. Pl.’s Memo. at 1; Def.’s 56.1 Stmt.2
7-8.Defendant Hearst Communications, Inc. is a corporation organized under Delaware law. Compl. (Dkt. No. 1)6. Hearst is a well-known in the media industry; it owns newspapers, television channels and stations, and publishes news in newspapers, magazines, and as relevant here, on the Internet. Def.’s 56.1 Stmt.
