Kansas photographer Eric Bowers accuses Marriott of placing one of his photographs on its website without authorization. Bowers asserts that the infringement was willful, based on Marriott being a sophisticated corporation that is or should be well aware of copyright law. It is not immediately clear why this case was brought in Massachusetts; while personal jurisdiction is alleged to exist because Marriott’s 46 hotel properties located in Massachusetts subject it to general personal jurisdiction and/or because the website on which the photograph appears is accessible in Massachusetts, the subject photograph is a city scape of Kansas City, and it appears on the Kansas City portion of the Marriott site.
Judge Stearns has the case.
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