Robert Miller Photographer sues Original Favorites, alleging an Instagram post used an Astronaut Snoopy parade photograph

The complaint

Robert Miller Photographer, LLC v. Original Favorites, No. 1:26-cv-05964 (D. Colo.), is a 12-page complaint filed November 9, 2026, ECF No. 1, with a jury demand. The plaintiff is a New York limited liability company with its principal place of business in New York County, New York. The complaint describes it as a professional photography company and says it owns and licenses the copyrights in photographs by photojournalist Robert Miller, including the photograph at issue. It describes the defendant as a Colorado limited liability company with its principal place of business in Denver, Colorado, and as a Denver-based apparel company, founded in 2016, that makes and sells garments on a wholesale basis and offers its products through its website. (Compl. caption; paras. 5, 6, 10 to 12, 31; Jury Demand.)

The photograph

The complaint concerns a photograph of the Astronaut Snoopy giant balloon floating down Central Park West during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. It says Miller first published the photograph on November 25, 2021, by commercially licensing it to a New York newspaper, that it was registered on December 17, 2021, under Registration No. VA 2-280-127, and that the plaintiff acquired the rights, including accrued causes of action, by written assignment. (Compl. paras. 2, 22, 23, 25, 27.)

The Copyright Office public record for VA0002280127 is a group registration of 135 published photographs titled "Robert Miller," registered December 17, 2021, with a publication date range of September 20, 2021 to December 16, 2021, and a 2021 creation year. It lists Robert Miller as author and claimant. (Copyright Office public record.)

The alleged use

The complaint says Original Favorites owns and operates the Instagram account @originalfavorites, which carries Instagram's verified badge, and uses the account to market its brand and garments. It alleges that on or about November 23, 2023, without permission, the defendant willfully and volitionally reproduced and publicly displayed the photograph in an Instagram post. The complaint says November 23, 2023 was Thanksgiving Day and the day of that year's parade, and that the defendant tagged the post with the location "Central Park, New York," so that the 2021 photograph appeared to depict that day's parade. It alleges, on information and belief, that the defendant did so to associate its brand with the parade and the holiday at the start of the holiday shopping season. It says the plaintiff first observed the use on December 24, 2023. (Compl. paras. 3, 32, 40, 41, 44.)

It says that on or about June 4, 2024, the plaintiff, through counsel, sent the defendant a letter notifying it of the claim, and that the defendant responded in writing the same day, acknowledged its use of the photograph, apologized for its "misuse of this image," and offered either to credit the photograph or to delete it from its social media. The complaint says the defendant did neither, and that as of the date of the complaint, more than two years after that offer, the post remained publicly displayed. It says the defendant continued to display the photograph after receiving notice. (Compl. paras. 72 to 76.)

It also alleges, on information and belief, that the account forms part of the defendant's commercial enterprise, that the defendant received a financial benefit directly attributable to the use, and that the defendant willfully infringed the photograph. (Compl. paras. 33, 64, 85.)

The claims and the prayer

The First Cause of Action pleads direct copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501. It alleges that, without permission and in willful violation of the plaintiff's rights under 17 U.S.C. § 106, the defendant copied, reproduced, distributed, adapted, and/or publicly displayed the photograph, and that the reproduction and display constitute willful copyright infringement. It alleges, on information and belief, that the defendant willfully infringed the photograph in violation of Title 17. The complaint says the photograph was registered on December 17, 2021, nearly two years before the alleged infringement began, and that the plaintiff may elect statutory damages and seek attorney's fees under 17 U.S.C. §§ 412, 504(c), and 505. (Compl. paras. 45, 79 to 87; First Cause of Action.)

The prayer asks the court to find that the defendant infringed the plaintiff's copyright interest in the photograph by copying, reproducing, distributing, publishing, and publicly displaying it without a license or consent; to award actual damages and disgorgement of all of the defendant's profits attributable to the infringements under 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) or, at the plaintiff's election, statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c), whichever is larger; to enjoin any infringing use of any of the plaintiff's works under 17 U.S.C. § 502(a); to award costs of litigation and reasonable attorney's fees under 17 U.S.C. § 505; and to award pre-judgment interest and other relief the court deems just and proper. It demands a jury trial. (Compl. Prayer for Relief; Jury Demand.)

Docket

On November 10, 2026, the docket records an order referring the case to a magistrate judge. (Docket minute entry Nov. 10, 2026.)