The complaint
Kitagaki, Jr. v. HeyDay, No. 4:26-cv-10067 (N.D. Cal.), is a 14-page complaint filed September 9, 2026, ECF No. 1, with two exhibits and a jury demand. The complaint describes Kitagaki as a professional photographer and California citizen based in Sacramento County, and HeyDay as a California nonprofit corporation based in Berkeley that owns and operates heydaybooks.com, through which it promotes books, authors, cultural programs, and educational resources. It pleads jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a) and venue under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b)(2) and 1400(a).
The work
The work is a photograph of an author that, according to the complaint, Kitagaki first published on February 19, 2012, in connection with the book jacket for The Poet and the Silk Girl. The complaint alleges that the photograph is registered with the Copyright Office.
What the complaint alleges
The complaint alleges that on or about October 1, 2023, HeyDay reproduced and displayed the photograph as part of an author profile on its website, stored at a URL that included Kitagaki's name, and that he first saw it on March 21, 2024. It alleges, on information and belief, that HeyDay also provided a copy to a third-party news site, which displayed it in an article promoting the book and its author, and that Kitagaki did not authorize that use. It says that after his counsel's March 13, 2026 notice, HeyDay represented that it had removed the photograph from its website, asked third parties to remove it, and asked an online archive to remove archived copies, but did not pay for the use.
The count and relief
The single count alleges willful direct copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501, covering both the website display and the copy supplied to the news site. Kitagaki seeks a finding of infringement; actual damages and profits under 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) or, at his election, statutory damages under § 504(c); an injunction under § 502(a); costs and attorneys' fees under § 505; prejudgment interest; and other relief.