On May 7, 2010, 42 photographers, copyright owners, and the San Diego Zoo filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Taco Bell Corp and Snap TV, Inc., claiming the fast food company used 102 images without permission in four DVDs sold with kid’s meals.

The images used on the DVDs were licensed by Snap TV, which was also licensing the photos from a stock photo agency, Minden Pictures.  Minden, however, claims Snap TV has not paid its licensing fee.

The photographers claim Taco Bell distributed more than 2 million DVDs that contained their copyrighted images, and that the company did not verify Snap TV’s right to license the images.  The copyright owners seek damages and profits from Taco Bell’s, to total more than $11 million in damages.

SOURCE:  Flip Nicklin v. Taco Bell Corp. 2:10-cv-03419 PSG-MAN (CDCA); Victoria Slind-Flor, “Photographers seek $11 million in Taco Bell infringement suit,” Business Week, May 11, 2010 (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-11/google-yum-mattel-pepsico-intellectual-property-update1-.html).