Falco Ermert sues City Lifestyle, alleging it copied his Mexiko_Belize_755 photograph to promote its business

What was filed

Ermert v. City Lifestyle, LLC, No. 4:26-cv-01043 (W.D. Mo.), is a six-page complaint filed November 10, 2026, with a jury demand. The case is assigned to Judge Brian C. Wimes. The plaintiff, Falco Ermert, is described in the complaint as a German journalist and photographer based in Cologne, Germany. The defendant, City Lifestyle, LLC, is described as a Missouri limited liability company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, that publishes community lifestyle magazines, provides advertising and marketing services, and owns and operates the website at citylifestyle.com.

The photograph

The complaint alleges that Ermert created the photograph titled “Mexiko_Belize_755” in 2015 and registered it with the Register of Copyrights on December 5, 2016, as part of a group registration assigned Registration No. VA 2-024-778. The Copyright Office public record for VA0002024778 is titled “Group Registration Photos, 2015 Work, Published Apr. 25, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015; 738 photos.” It lists Falco Ermert as author and claimant and a registration date of December 5, 2016, and its list of photograph titles includes “Mexiko_Belize755,” listed as published September 13, 2015.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint alleges that City Lifestyle has never been licensed to use the photograph, that it copied the photograph from the internet, and that it then made further copies and distributed the photograph on the internet to promote the sale of goods and services as part of its publishing business. It alleges that Ermert learned of the use on the website within three years before filing, and that he notified City Lifestyle of his allegations on November 10, 2025, and December 19, 2025, without a resolution.

The claim and the prayer

Count I, Copyright Infringement, alleges that City Lifestyle copied, displayed, and distributed the photograph and made derivatives of it without authorization in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 501, and that its acts were willful. The prayer asks that City Lifestyle and those acting in concert with it be preliminarily and permanently enjoined from the acts alleged in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 501; that City Lifestyle pay Ermert's actual damages and its profits attributable to the infringement or, at Ermert's election, statutory damages, as provided in 17 U.S.C. § 504; that Ermert be awarded attorneys' fees and costs under the applicable statutes; pre- and post-judgment interest; and other relief the court deems just and proper.