John Earle Sullivan sues KSTU FOX 13 and Scripps over January 6 Capitol footage

The complaint

Sullivan v. KSTU, LLC, No. 2:26-cv-01026 (D. Utah), was filed October 19, 2026 and is assigned to Judge Tena Campbell. The complaint is Document 1, a 214-page verified complaint that demands a jury. John Earle Sullivan of Erda, Utah signs it pro se, and the docket shows a motion to proceed in forma pauperis filed the same day. The defendants are KSTU, LLC d/b/a FOX 13 News Utah, Scripps Media, Inc., Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC, The E.W. Scripps Company, Adam P. Symson, Timothy James Ermish, Jeffrey Warren Tavss (p/k/a Jeff Tavss), Melanie Porter, Erin Virginia Cox, and Nathan William Carlisle. Each individual is sued in an individual capacity and in a corporate or professional capacity.

The work

The complaint alleges that Sullivan recorded video at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and registered it as a motion picture titled The Insurrection of The United States Capitol, Registration No. PA 2-585-152, effective February 25, 2026, which it alleges names him as sole author, under the pseudonym Jayden X, and as copyright claimant. The Copyright Office record lists the date of first publication as January 6, 2021. It alleges that two national news organizations licensed the footage in January 2021 for $35,000 each.

What it alleges

The complaint alleges that the defendants copied the footage and aired it on FOX 13 News at 5:00, 9:00 and 10:00 newscasts, on fox13now.com, on a Scripps affiliate website and on YouTube, without contacting Sullivan or obtaining a license. It alleges that the station took the video from a YouTube player and that one broadcast showed a "Courtesy: Jayden X" credit. It also alleges that, across multiple broadcast packages, digital uploads and syndicated web segments, staff acting under the direction of Ermish and Tavss removed or obscured his JAYDEN X watermark and work title and added FOX 13 branding.

Count I alleges direct, contributory and vicarious infringement under 17 U.S.C. 106, 501 and 504 against the four companies and against Symson, Ermish, Tavss, Cox and Carlisle. Count II alleges removal and alteration of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. 1202(b) and 1203 against the four companies and against Ermish, Tavss and Symson. Counts III through XII are Utah state-law claims against some or all defendants arising from the station's reporting about Sullivan, including defamation, false light, abuse of personal identity, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, deceptive trade practices and intrusion upon seclusion. The complaint alleges that the reporting was false.

Relief sought

The complaint asks for preliminary and permanent injunctions under 17 U.S.C. 502 and 1203(b)(1) and Utah law, an order for destruction or other disposition of infringing copies under 17 U.S.C. 503(b), statutory damages of $150,000 per work under 17 U.S.C. 504(c)(2) or actual damages and profits under 504(b), statutory damages of $25,000 per violation under 17 U.S.C. 1203(c)(3)(B), compensatory, statutory and punitive damages on the state-law claims, costs and fees under 17 U.S.C. 505 and 1203(b), and interest. The docket also shows motions filed October 19 for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.