Blogger’s Photo Republication Isn’t Fair Use–Vedros v. Endless Mt. Labradors

This is a run-of-the-mill photographer copyright enforcement action. As a commission for an advertiser, Vedros created a photo that depicts “a dog placing its front paws on a scale with a cat nearby, and shows both animals looking at the dog’s weight….[including] removing the dog’s collar and placing it next to the scale.” The defendant breeds English Labrador dogs and operates a website emlabradors.com. [A reminder: adopt, don’t shop.] The breeder’s website included a blog, and on February 4, 2016, Donna Stanley made a blog post entitled “A Breeder’s Note on Canine Obesity.” “At some point during litigation, the photograph was removed from the article’s header; at that time, the article had forty-three (43) views.” The court grants summary judgment to the photographer on infringement. The fair use defense fails. Purpose of Use–Commercial. The blog post describes the problems with canine obesity, which is sorta educational. However… The article recommends buying natural dog food, and,…