Apple Sued Over iPhone Ads

A Colorado photographer is suing Apple, claiming the company stole one of his images and used it in ads for its iPhone and Apple TV products.

In a court filing, Louis Psihoyos claims that Apple used "images nearly identical or substantially similar to the plaintiff's copyrighted image" to promote the iPhone and Apple TV -- Apple's on-demand video service.

Psihoyos' image shows a silhouetted person sitting in a chair, surrounded by banks of television screens. Apple's ads show a similar bank of screens, without the person and with the Apple logo superimposed over the TVs, copies of the images included in court documents show.

The suit was filed last month in U.S. District Court in Colorado. Psihoyos operates a custom and stock photography studio in Boulder.

He claims that he was in talks with Apple over a licensing deal for the image, but says the talks broke down.

"After Apple refused to pay for the authorized use of the copyrighted image, Apple then without justification and in willful and wanton disregard for the rights and feelings of the plaintiff began its campaign of Internet and interstate commerce using the unauthorized image or substantially similar images in its national advertising campaign to market its iPhone and Apple TV products," Psihoyos claims in the lawsuit.

To support his case, Psihoyos filed a brief from a University of Denver law professor that backs up his claim. "The similarities between the protectable elements of Psihoyos' photograph and the images used in Apple's ad campaign are striking," writes professor Viva Moffat, who teaches copyright law at the university's Sturm College of Law.

Psihoyos is seeking unspecified damages. Apple officials didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.