OTTO Archive sues Snyder-Diamond and Viking Range over interior photographs used in kitchen marketing

The complaint

OTTO Archive, LLC v. Snyder-Diamond et al., No. 2:26-cv-12627 (C.D. Cal.), was filed October 28, 2026. The plaintiff is OTTO Archive, LLC, a New York limited liability company with its principal place of business in New York County, New York. The defendants are Snyder-Diamond, a California corporation the complaint says owns and operates a home-improvement store featuring kitchen, bath, hardware, outdoor, and plumbing products with four locations in California, and Viking Range, LLC formerly known as Middleby Residential, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company that the complaint says owns and operates kitchen and home brands including La Cornue and Viking, with its principal place of business in Elgin, Illinois. The complaint runs 28 pages.

The works

The complaint asserts fourteen professional interior photographs, identified by OTTO internal reference numbers and called collectively the Work. It allocates ownership of them among six photographers OTTO represents. The First Photograph (OT2355810) is an interior photograph of a kitchen range. Eight photographs (the Second through Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth) are called the Timely Registered Photographs. Five others (the Eighth and Eleventh through Fourteenth) are called the Not Timely Registered Photographs. It alleges each photograph was registered with the Register of Copyrights by its photographer-owner, with registration numbers and alleged infringement screenshots in Exhibit A and certificates in Exhibit B, and that written agreements give OTTO exclusive rights in the Work, including rights to reproduce and distribute copies and to pursue infringements.

What the complaint alleges

It alleges that on June 10, 2025, after the photographer registered the First Photograph, Snyder-Diamond displayed that photograph in marketing after Viking Range distributed it to Snyder-Diamond. It further alleges Viking Range published the Timely Registered Photographs and the Not Timely Registered Photographs in connection with its business. It alleges, on information and belief, that Snyder-Diamond buys kitchen products from Viking Range and that Viking Range distributes photographs then published in Snyder-Diamond marketing, and that the defendants located copies of the Work on the internet or, as to Snyder-Diamond, received them from Viking Range, rather than contacting OTTO for a license.

Claims and relief requested

Count I seeks copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501 against Snyder-Diamond as to the First Photograph, with a prayer for a willfulness declaration, actual damages and profits or statutory damages, costs and attorneys' fees under 17 U.S.C. § 505, interest, and a permanent injunction under 17 U.S.C. § 502. Count II seeks vicarious copyright infringement against Viking Range based on Snyder-Diamond's alleged infringement of the First Photograph, seeking actual damages and profits or statutory damages, costs and fees under 17 U.S.C. §§ 505 and 1203(b)(5), interest, and injunctive relief. Count III seeks copyright infringement against Viking Range as to the Timely Registered Photographs, with willfulness, statutory-damages election, fees under § 505, and an injunction. Count IV seeks copyright infringement against Viking Range as to the Not Timely Registered Photographs, seeking actual damages and profits, costs under § 505, interest, and a permanent injunction.