H.E. Elya Peker and Katrina Peker v. Masters Collection

Copyright infringement. Plaintiffs alleged that Masters Collection infringed Elya's copyright when it used posters of one of Elya's paintings to create an oil painting replica that was sold through catalogs and over the Internet.

Plaintiff Elya is an artist who oil paintings include "Flowers in Basket," "Big Bouquet of Flowers on Marble Table," and "Flowers in Jug." He registered the copyright for these oil paintings on January 19, 1990.

Defendant Masters is a retail business that, among other things, purchases poster prints of paintings and resells them as framed oil painting replicas after adding paint to the poster to replicate the painting.

In 1991, Elya entered into a licensing agreement with Galaxy of Graphics to make and sell posters. Elya received an advance of $250 for each "painting" used to make posters and a 10% royalty on each poster print sold.

Between March 1993 and October 1994, Masters purchased several of Elya's posters. Masters applied a thin coast of acrylic paint to the posters, allowing the poster's ink layer to be separated from its paper backing without ruining the image. Masters then had artists apply oil paint in brush strokes to the image, attempting to match the color and style of the original painting. It then sold the replica paintings for up to $379.

Plaintiffs' complaint alleged that Masters infringed Plaintiffs' copyright.

Judgment was entered in favor of the Plaintiffs on the issue of infringement and the matter was referred to a magistrate judge for determination of the damages to be awarded to Plaintiffs.

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For more information about this case, see: 96 F.Supp.2d 216 (E.D.N.Y. 2000). Reported by Kent Morlan