SCR 25 sues Amie Potsic Art Advisory, alleging its website displays an altered copy of a Jerry Garcia photograph

The complaint

SCR 25 Inc. v. Amie Potsic Art Advisory, LLC, No. 2:26-cv-12481 (C.D. Cal.), was filed October 26, 2026. The complaint is Document 1, runs 17 pages, and demands a jury. The plaintiff is SCR 25 Inc., a New York corporation. The defendant is Amie Potsic Art Advisory, LLC, a Pennsylvania limited liability company based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania that operates amiepotsicartadvisory.com. The complaint is signed by Daniel Cotman of Cotman IP Law Group, APLC in Newport Beach, California. It pleads jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1338(a) and venue under 28 U.S.C. 1400(a). Its Exhibits A to C, the registration certificate, a screen capture of the accused use, and the photograph, are not on the public docket. (Compl. pp. 1, 17; paras. 2 to 6, 18.)

The work and ownership

The complaint says a photographer created the work in 1992: an original photograph of Jerry Garcia holding a banjo outdoors, first published in November 1992. It is registered as one of the photographs in Registration No. VA 2-190-417, a group registration of published photographs with an effective date of December 9, 2019. The Copyright Office record for that registration lists the photographer as author and copyright claimant. The complaint alleges that by a written instrument dated October 20, 2026, the photographer assigned SCR 25 the copyright, the exclusive rights under 17 U.S.C. 106, and the right to sue and recover for past and present infringement. (Compl. paras. 19 to 24.)

What it alleges

The complaint alleges that on June 3, 2020 the defendant published a podcast webpage featuring its interview of a California artist and, on information and belief, uploaded that day an image file named DSCN0086.JPG containing the accused image. It alleges the image reproduces the figure from the photograph with a substituted background showing the sun and an image of the Earth on the head of the banjo, and that the defendant displays it as the first work in the page's ARTWORK section under a caption crediting the print to the artist and directing sales inquiries to Amie Potsic Art Advisory. It alleges that screen captures taken January 9 and October 15, 2026 show the display, that neither SCR 25 nor the photographer licensed the use, and that the use was discovered on or about January 9, 2026. (Compl. paras. 11 to 12, 25 to 33.)

The single count, under 17 U.S.C. 106 and 501, alleges that the defendant reproduced the work by uploading and storing the image and publicly displayed it by transmitting the image to visitors, infringing the rights under 17 U.S.C. 106(1) and (5), and that the infringement began on or about June 3, 2020, after the registration's effective date, and is continuing. It alleges the infringement was willful, pointing to the defendant's business as a professional art-advisory and appraisal firm, the intellectual property terms in its form consulting contract, and the copyright notices on its website. (Compl. paras. 34 to 48.)

Relief sought

The complaint asks for a judgment of willful infringement, actual damages and profits under 17 U.S.C. 504(b) or, at the plaintiff's election, statutory damages under 504(c) including enhanced statutory damages of up to $150,000, a permanent injunction under 17 U.S.C. 502, an accounting, costs and a reasonable attorney's fee under 17 U.S.C. 505, and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. (Compl. pp. 16 to 17.)