The Detroit Lions released a video promoting a new statue of Barry Sanders last fall, showing sculptors glancing at a life-size photo of the Hall of Fame running back while designing a clay mold.
A sculptor said in the clip that they were re-creating that photo, which shows Sanders — eyes wide, left arm outstretched — during a 1995 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The bronze 8-foot statue depicting Sanders in that position was unveiled outside Detroit’s Ford Field in September.
But the statue wasn’t celebrated by everyone. On Thursday, a photographer who said he captured the original photo of Sanders during that game filed a lawsuit against the Lions, accusing the team of copyright infringement. Allen Kee, who was a freelance photographer in 1995, alleged that he never authorized the Lions to use his photo.
“Mr. Kee never got any of the credit and recognition that he deserved,” Kevin McCulloch, an attorney representing Kee, told The Washington Post.
A Lions spokesman said in a statement that the organization is “prepared to vigorously defend our position,” adding that the claims “lack merit.”
The NFL, Getty Images and the sculpting company, Timeless Creations Inc., are also named as defendants in the complaint. All three organizations declined to comment.
Kee, who has worked as a sports photographer for more than three decades, earns a living by selling his photos, the lawsuit said.
On Sept. 3, 1995, Kee was taking photos on the sideline of the Lions’ game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, according to the lawsuit. On a second-down play in the first quarter, Sanders took a handoff, juked a defender and ran for three yards. Kee captured his photo while Sanders was looking downfield through his silver and blue helmet, the lawsuit said.
Later that month, Kee sublicensed his picture with NFL Photos, an agency that distributed shots taken by freelance photographers at NFL events, the lawsuit stated. Still, Kee didn’t relinquish his copyrights to the photo, and the NFL needed to purchase an additional license to use the picture, the lawsuit alleged.
When NFL Photos ceased operations around 2004, the NFL didn’t return Kee’s original picture, according to the lawsuit. Kee was unaware that his photo was being marketed online until 2022, the lawsuit said.
At some point after 2004, Getty Images had created or acquired a copy of Kee’s photo and sold the licenses without Kee’s consent, the lawsuit alleged. Getty Images, which supplies stock and editorial images to clients, removed Kee’s photo last year, McCulloch said, but the company didn’t reveal how it acquired the picture.
Eventually, the photo was used by sculptors to make the statue of Sanders last year, the lawsuit said. The statue, which the lawsuit alleged depicted the same pose Kee captured in his photo of Sanders, was unveiled during the weekend of the Lions’ home opener.
Sanders removed a tarp covering the statue and gave a speech. He’s one of the franchise’s best all-time players and led the NFL in rushing yards four times between 1989 and 1998.
About a week after the unveiling, the Lions released the video that showed a sculptor calling the reference image “the most iconic running photo” of Sanders. The moment captured in the photo, the sculptor said, was “being re-created in this sculpture.”
After seeing pictures and videos online of the statue, Kee was shocked and frustrated, McCulloch said.
“He worked for 32 years on the sidelines of games, carrying his camera and all of his equipment, perfecting his craft,” McCulloch said. “Everyone acknowledges the greatness of this photo, and Mr. Kee was entirely left out.”
Kee is requesting profits from the “unauthorized uses” of his photo, as well as damages. He’s also asking for unauthorized digital copies of his photo to be destroyed and that others be prohibited from copying it without permission.
Paul Goldstein, a Stanford University law professor, said the court might need to decide whether the statue was based on Sanders’s typical running stance or Kee’s photo. Kevin Greene, a professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, said if the court finds that the sculptors re-created Kee’s photo, “it’s a pretty clear-cut case of copyright infringement.”
This isn’t the first time a sports design has caused controversy over copyright infringement. A photographer sued Nike in 2015, alleging the athletic apparel company took his idea for the “Jumpman” logo. The case ended four years later when the Supreme Court declined to hear the photographer’s case.
McCulloch said “there’s no doubt” Kee’s photo was copied to make the statue.
“Mr. Kee should be paid for the fact that someone used his photo to make a copy of it and to re-create it in a different media,” he said.
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2024-01-17 09:24:20Z
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