Intellectual Property News and Reports

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Beaulieu, Crouse, and Stockwell were working together to design, publish, and promote a book. Crouse’s press-release email advanced that joint project. Whether Beaulieu thought it was a bad business idea is outside the reach of a copyright infringement claim. Beaulieu received several emails (which he failed to produce initially) showing he was aware of and did not object to the marketing plan, including several with the slideshow attached. His collaborators made no attempt to hide it from him. They sent it to him and distributed it with Beaulieu expressly credited as the photographer. There is no evidence that Stockwell sent the slideshow or any other version of Beaulieu’s photos after the project fell apart. According to the record, any use of the photographs was to promote the book they were working on together. Beaulieu’s silence, coupled with continued and normal interactions between him and the collaborators, implied his approval of the marketing plan and the corresponding distribution of his images, and thus showed an implied license.

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