The complaint

Reiffer v. Polynovo North America LLC, No. 3:26-cv-06158-TWR-DDL (S.D. Cal.), was filed October 29, 2026 (7 pages). The complaint is dated October 28, 2026. The docket entry for the complaint states that Judge Todd W. Robinson and Magistrate Judge David D. Leshner are assigned to the case, and a summons issued the same day. The plaintiff is Paul Reiffer, whom the complaint describes as a professional landscape, cityscape, and commercial photographer working worldwide. The defendant is PolyNovo North America LLC, which the complaint describes as a California limited liability company and as a medical device company specializing in regenerative wound-care technologies, headquartered in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, with its North American headquarters in Carlsbad. Reiffer demands a jury trial. (Compl. caption; paras. 2, 3, 9; Jury Demand; ECF Nos. 1, 2.)

The photograph

The complaint alleges that in 2018 Reiffer created the photograph titled 20180911-Las-Vegas-Bellagio-Car-Strip-v3, which it calls the Work and reproduces. It alleges he registered the Work with the Register of Copyrights on November 2, 2018, as part of a group registration assigned Registration No. VA 2-125-411, that he offers the Work for sale on his website, and that he was the exclusive owner at all relevant times. (Compl. paras. 10 to 14.) The Copyright Office record for VA 2-125-411 shows a group registration of 41 published photographs titled Landscapes and Commercial, registered November 2, 2018, with Paul Reiffer as author and claimant, and lists 20180911-Las-Vegas-Bellagio-Car-Strip-v3 among the photographs published in September 2018.

What it alleges

The complaint alleges PolyNovo has never been licensed to use the Work. It alleges that, on a date after the Work was created and before this action was filed, PolyNovo copied the Work, and that within three years of filing Reiffer learned of unauthorized uses on the PolyNovo LinkedIn page at three URLs the complaint lists. It alleges PolyNovo then made further copies and distributed the Work on the internet to promote the sale of goods and services in its regenerative wound-care business. It says Reiffer notified PolyNovo of the allegations on May 21, 2026, and that the parties have not resolved the matter. (Compl. paras. 15 to 23; Ex. 3 cited.)

Claims and relief

  • Count I, direct copyright infringement, by Reiffer against PolyNovo. It alleges Reiffer owns a valid copyright in the Work and registered it under 17 U.S.C. 411(a), that PolyNovo copied, displayed, and distributed the Work and made derivatives without authorization in violation of 17 U.S.C. 501, that the acts were in the course of PolyNovo's business, and that the infringement was willful. (Compl. paras. 24 to 31.)
  • Count II, vicarious copyright infringement, by Reiffer against PolyNovo. It alleges, on information and belief, that a third party copied, displayed, and made derivatives of the Work; that PolyNovo has a direct financial interest because it derives profits from its website displaying the Work; that PolyNovo could stop the display but allowed it to remain; and that, to the extent a third party alone performed the acts, PolyNovo is vicariously liable under 17 U.S.C. 501. (Compl. paras. 32 to 38.)

The prayer asks that PolyNovo and those in active concert with it be preliminarily and permanently enjoined from the alleged violations of 17 U.S.C. 501; that PolyNovo pay Reiffer's actual damages and PolyNovo's profits attributable to the infringement or, at Reiffer's election, statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504; attorneys' fees and costs; pre- and post-judgment interest; and other relief the court deems just and proper. (Compl. Prayer.)