Tamara Wareka sues Hush Luxury Esthetics over a closeup beauty photograph

The complaint

Tamara Wareka a/k/a Tamara Williams v. Hush Luxury Esthetics LLC, No. 2:26-cv-08358-MAK (E.D. Pa.), is a seven-page complaint filed November 2, 2026, ECF No. 1, with a spreadsheet identifying the work and its alleged uses (Exhibit A) and the registration certificate (Exhibit B). The complaint describes Wareka as a freelance fashion and beauty photographer who is a citizen of and resides in Germany, and Hush Luxury Esthetics LLC as a Pennsylvania limited liability company with its principal place of business in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

The work

Wareka alleges she created a closeup photograph of a female model's face titled IMG_8578_AngeliaA_06072021 and registered it with the Copyright Office under VA 2-259-542. The Copyright Office public catalog lists VA 2-259-542 as Tamara Williams Q2 2021, a group registration of 82 published photographs registered July 13, 2021, with Tamara Wareka as claimant, and its list of photograph titles includes IMG_8578_AngeliaA_06072021.

What it alleges

The complaint alleges that Hush owns and operates a spa in Pennsylvania and advertises through its website and social media, and that after the registration it displayed the photograph on its website, social media, and/or print media to promote its business. It alleges Hush was never licensed to use the photograph and, on information and belief, found a copy on the internet and copied it. Wareka says she discovered the use on November 2, 2023 and notified Hush in writing.

The claim and relief

The single count pleads copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501, which it says was direct, vicarious, and/or contributory, and alleges the infringement was willful, pointing to a copyright notice on Hush's website. Wareka asks for declarations of infringement and willfulness, actual damages and profits or, at her election, statutory damages, costs and attorneys' fees under 17 U.S.C. § 505, interest, and a permanent injunction under 17 U.S.C. § 502.

On the docket

The November 2, 2026 docket entries record the complaint, a summons, the copyright report form, an opt-in notice about random magistrate judge assignment, and a notice about court-annexed mediation.