SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 7 – In 2013 the Huffington Post used a photo of Jon Hamm with his crotch obscured by a box saying, Image Loading.
Now notorious copyright attorney Richard Liebowitz, recently slammed by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Jesse M. Furman, sued.
On July 7 SDNY Judge Ronnie Abrams held a proceeding in the matter. Inner City Press covered it.
Liebowitz, perhaps wisely, let James H. Freeman do the argument for him. And it was a highbrow argument, about what constitutes satire and thus fair use, and what doesn't.
The defendant's lawyer argued that the box made it a commentary; Freeman said that real Jon Hamm fans would want to license even the doctored picture, and so he needed discovery.
Judge Abrams reserved judgment.
The case is Schwartzwald v. Oath Inc., 19-cv-9938 (Abrams)
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