The complaint

Bee Creek Photography, LLC v. Lev Investments, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-03121 (W.D. Tex.), is a 15-page complaint filed November 6, 2026, ECF No. 1, with exhibits and a jury demand. Its caption names the San Antonio Division. The plaintiff is a Texas commercial photography studio based in Travis County, Texas. The complaint describes Lev Investments, Inc. as a California real estate investment and development company based in Calabasas, California, with an office in Addison, Texas, that holds multifamily and retail properties in San Antonio.

The work

Bee Creek alleges that photographer Tod Grubbs created, and that it now owns, an aerial panoramic photograph of the San Antonio skyline at dusk, featuring the Tower of the Americas, the Alamodome, and the Henry B. González Convention Center, first published August 27, 2018, and registered as VA 2-125-494 on November 2, 2018. It alleges Grubbs assigned his rights to a general partnership on July 1, 2022, and that the partnership assigned them to Bee Creek effective April 1, 2024. The Copyright Office public record lists VA 2-125-494 as a group registration of 346 published photographs, published August 3 to October 24, 2018, with a registration date of November 2, 2018, and Tod Grubbs as author and claimant.

What it alleges

The complaint alleges, upon information and belief, that on or about June 16, 2020, Lev Investments reproduced and publicly displayed the photograph as the cover image across the top of its LinkedIn company page, which it alleges promotes the company's real estate business to prospective investment partners, lenders, brokers, and tenants. It alleges the photograph as published on Bee Creek's website carried a beecreekphoto.com watermark and a copyright notice, and, upon information and belief, that the defendant cropped or edited the image so that the watermark does not appear. It alleges that Bee Creek first saw the cover image on December 16, 2023, sent a cease and desist demand on or about March 14, 2024 and a follow up on or about April 16, 2024, and that the defendant responded that the photograph appeared on what it called an inactive LinkedIn page and that it would remove it, but refused to compensate Bee Creek. It alleges the infringement was willful.

Counts and relief

The first cause of action pleads direct copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501. The second pleads vicarious copyright infringement. The third pleads removal or alteration of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. § 1202(b). The prayer asks for a finding of infringement; actual damages and profits under 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) or, at Bee Creek's election, statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c); a finding that the defendant violated 17 U.S.C. § 1202(b), with actual damages or statutory damages of up to $25,000 for each violation under 17 U.S.C. § 1203(c); an injunction under 17 U.S.C. § 502(a); costs and attorney's fees under 17 U.S.C. §§ 505 and 1203(b)(4) and (5); pre-judgment interest; and other relief.

On the docket

On November 6, 2026, Bee Creek also filed a request for issuance of summons and the copyright report form.