Houston Chronicle by L.M. Sixel June 13, 2019
The University of Houston got a big win this week when a state appeals court agreed to reverse a lower court ruling that would have allowed a Houston photographer to sue the university for using an aerial photograph the university used to promote its business school.
The Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas determined that the university's copyright infringement of Houston photographer Jim Olive was not a "taking" of his property, an argument typically associated with real estate and not with intellectual property claims. In real estate when the government takes a person's property to build a road or bridge, the owner must be compensated.
In a closely watched case in creative and publishing circles, Olive, who has made a career out of getting difficult and dangerous aerial shots from open helicopters, sued the University of Houston two years ago with a novel argument that using one of his photographs without compensation or permission was an unlawful "taking" under the Texas Constitution, which prohibits government agencies from taking private property without adequate compensation.
Olive tried the approach after the University of Houston rejected his claim that the public university should pay for a photo it used without permission in web and print publications, contending the university has sovereign immunity, a well-established legal principle that protects a state from getting sued.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Texas-court-says-photographer-has-no-recourse-13973674.php
