Moda Operandi Sues McMullen Boutique Over Copyright Infringement

Moda Operandi is in offense mode.

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The luxury fashion retailer is suing McMullen Brand, a California -based boutique, over copyright infringement . Moda Operandi alleges that McMullen has used copyrighted product photos without the retailer’s consent.

The company filed its complaint on Aug. 7 in California’s Northern District Court. The Brooklyn-based retailer alleges that the West Coast boutique has “committed copyright infringement with actual or constructive knowledge of, or with reckless disregard or willful blindness for, [Moda Operandi’s] rights in the [photos], such that said acts of copyright infringement were willful.”

In an exhibit attached to the complaint, Moda Operandi has attached 19 of their copyrighted images side by side with screenshots they allege came from McMullen’s website. The images the company states McMullen has infringed upon appear identical or nearly identical to Moda Operandi’s images. The images in question feature women’s skirts, dresses, tops, pants, sweaters and jackets.

In that same exhibit, Moda Operandi’s counsel includes links to where McMullen allegedly used those 19 images. The links now bring users to an error message on McMullen’s site.

In the complaint, Moda Operandi’s counsel states that the company seeks damages “in an amount to be established at trial” because, they allege, McMullen “copied, displayed, distributed, reproduced, and otherwise exploited the Subject Photographs for commercial purposes,” in turn causing losses to Moda.

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Accordingly, the lawyers say, Moda Operandi should be entitled to the profits McMullen made off of the 19 items the boutique allegedly used the retailer’s photos for, since McMullen “obtained profits they would not have realized but for their infringement.”

Moda Operandi’s lawyers have also called for an enjoinment that would prevent McMullen from using the images in question without explicit permissions from Moda.

To date, McMullen has not filed a response to Moda Operandi’s complaint. Court records show that neither Moda Operandi nor McMullen have other legal actions pending.

Neither Moda Operandi nor McMullen immediately returned Sourcing Journal’s requests for comment on the lawsuit.

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