Photographer Sues Snopes Media for Unauthorized Use of Ivana Trump Grave Photo

Snopes Media displayed without permission or authorization a photo of Ivana Trump’s grave at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, alleged a copyright infringement complaint (docket 3:24-cv-00762) Monday in U.S. District Court for Southern California in San Diego. Photographer Daniel McKnight of New York published the photo of the grave on July 28, 2022, personally selecting the subject matter, timing, lighting, camera angle, perspective, depth, lens and camera equipment used to capture the image; the photo was registered by the U.S. Copyright Office on Sept. 26, it said. Fact-checking website Snopes.com displayed the photo as part of an online story on Aug. 23 without permission, it alleged. The infringement includes a URL for a “fixed tangible medium of expression that was sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be communicated for a period of more than a transitory duration and therefore constitutes a specific infringement,” it said. Upon information and belief, the infringement increased traffic to the website and caused Snopes to realize an increase in its advertising revenue, and a “large number of people have viewed the unlawful copies," it said. Snopes didn’t respond to McKnight’s letter addressing the copyright infringement and continues to infringe on his work, it said. The plaintiff seeks actual damages and disgorgement of all Snopes’ profits attributable to the infringement, plus statutory damages and litigation fees.