On Remand the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin Awards DeWitt’s Client Approximately $4 Million in Copyright Infringement Damages

GREEN BAY | MADISON | MILWAUKEE | MINNEAPOLIS –   Today DeWitt LLP law firm announced that on remand the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin entered a damages award of $3,980,533.33 based on the distinct value of its client’s 33 infringed illustrations and unjust enrichment.

In 2017, DeWitt’s Intellectual Property litigators Harry Van Camp, Eli Van Camp and Laura Davis successfully obtained a jury decision in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin for approximately $4 million in damages for copyright infringement and unjust enrichment.   

On appeal by the Defendant Flora, Inc. from the jury verdict and entry of final judgment in favor of the Plaintiff Amy Sullivan the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion affirming in part, vacating in part, and remanding the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.  On July 1, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge William Conley released the post appeal decision and order confirming the judgment.

At issue in the case was whether Flora, Inc., a business that hired Wisconsin-based graphic artist Sullivan to create work for advertising use, had used Sullivan’s illustrations from previous videos without her consent in new, independent online promotional advertising.

Sullivan reserved all usage of her illustrations to herself except for two English language promotional videos.  After the initial use, Flora, Inc. no longer had the permission of Sullivan to use the illustrations.  That is where the problems began - Flora, Inc. even after being notified of copyright infringement continued to use Sullivan’s copyrighted illustrations.  After presenting its case to the jury in Wisconsin, the jury agreed that Flora, Inc. had damaged Sullivan economically through its copyright violations. 

DeWitt’s Intellectual Property litigators are recognized as leaders in the Intellectual Property field by IAM Patent 1000, IP Stars, Martindale-Hubbell, World Trademark Review, and others.  Its attorneys work with clients around the world in all matters related to IP.   They have successfully represented the IP interests of clients in federal and state courts across the country.