Lisa Zador sues Alice Peterson Company and two needlepoint retailers over her Twelve Days of Christmas illustration

What was filed

Lisa Zador v. Alice Peterson Company, Inc., Needlepoint.Com Inc., Stitch by Stitch Needlepoint LLC, and Does 1-100, No. 1:26-cv-08901-LAP (S.D.N.Y.), was filed October 8, 2026 (18 pages). After a clerk's deficiency notice about entering the parties, the complaint was refiled on the docket on October 9, 2026 as ECF No. 3. Zador, of New York, New York, describes herself as an independent artist, illustrator, and needlepoint designer. She demands a jury trial. (Compl. paras. 1, 8; docket.)

The work

The complaint alleges Zador created the illustration Twelve Days of Christmas in 2019, first published it on January 30, 2019, and registered it as VA 2-487-416, effective February 10, 2026. It says the work bears the notice "(c) 2019 LISA ZADOR" in its lower right corner. (Compl. paras. 19 to 24.)

What the complaint alleges

It alleges Alice Peterson, a wholesale canvas maker, sold a 16-by-18-inch canvas titled 12 Days of Christmas that reproduces the illustration virtually in its entirety, a Twelve Days of Christmas Stocking canvas, and twelve round ornament canvases, and that Needlepoint.Com and Stitch by Stitch offer the products under Alice Peterson's name. It alleges, on information and belief, that Alice Peterson removed Zador's name and copyright notice and put its own titles, item numbers, and name on the products, and that the retailers knew or had reasonable grounds to know. It also alleges Alice Peterson did not provide sales information Zador requested for several months before suit. (Compl. paras. 26 to 47.)

Claims and relief

The first claim alleges copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501. The second alleges removal of copyright management information, and distribution of the work with it removed, under 17 U.S.C. 1202(b). The third alleges false copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. 1202(a). Each is pleaded against all defendants. Zador seeks a permanent injunction, impoundment and destruction, actual damages and profits, $25,000 for each violation of section 1202(a) and section 1202(b), costs and fees, and interest. (Compl. paras. 49 to 74; Prayer.)

On the docket

The docket shows the case assigned to Judge Loretta A. Preska. Alice Peterson returned a waiver of service, with an answer due December 7, 2026, and Stitch by Stitch was served on October 10, 2026, with an answer due November 2, 2026. (ECF Nos. 4, 5.) A further waiver of service executed was filed October 29, 2026. (ECF No. 8.)