‘Skittles’ photographer sues Donald Trump for copyright infringement
The photographer whose picture of a bowl of Skittles was used by Donald Trump’s campaign to make a point about Syrian refugees has filed a lawsuit in United States District Court in Chicago.
David Kittos, the photographer, alleges copyright infringement and is asking for monetary damages. You can read a copy of the complaint here.
Donald Trump Sr., Donald Trump Jr., Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and Mike Pence, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, are named as defendants.
Donald Trump Jr. sent the tweet on Sept. 19. He has since deleted the tweet, which was retweeted nearly 18,000 times and liked by nearly 30,000 users. It read: “If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.”
This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016
The complaint says “unauthorized use of the Photograph is reprehensibly offensive to Plaintiff as he is a refugee of the Republic of Cyprus who was forced to flee his home at the age of six years old.”
Kittos told BBC News that his family fled Cyprus to avoid the Turkish occupation in 1974.
In the complaint, Kittos says he created the image in January of 2010 and that “each piece of candy in the Photograph is randomly placed inside of the bowl, allowing their bright and boastful colors to become the centerpiece of the image. It would be beyond difficult to accurately recreate such a vivid image, given the challenge of replicating the exact lighting and exposure of the image, as well as assembling the arrangement of the candies.”
The image was posted to his Flickr page.
The complaint alleges that the defendants “knew or should have known that they did not possess any rights” to use the photograph.
Skittles issued a statement after the tweet.
“Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing,” Vice President of Corporate Affairs Denise Young said in the statement.
This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 3:32 PM with the headline "‘Skittles’ photographer sues Donald Trump for copyright infringement."