In today's episode a case in the Supreme Court could change copyright infringement cases, Sally Mann photos, and Leica changing their pricing.
You can find the show notes here.
You can find the show notes here.
Show Notes
Welcome back to the show, Liam Douglas here with the Liam Photography Podcast and you are listening to Episode 452 for the week of May 1st, 2025. In today’s stories, a lawsuit could change copyright infringement, Fort Worth Police view Sally Mann photos in NY and Leica changes pricing.
A photographer’s lawsuit is at the center of a Supreme Court petition that could change how long creators have to sue when their work gets stolen. The big question at the heart of the petition is: Does the clock for filing a copyright lawsuit start when the infringement happens — or when the photographer actually finds out about the infringement?
In 2017, photographer Michael Grecco took photos of model Amber Rose wearing shoes designed by Ruthie Davis, an award-winning women’s shoe designer.
Later that same year, shoe designer Ruthie Davis posted some of Grecco’s photos of Rose on her website and X (the platform then known as Twitter) without his permission.
However, Grecco didn’t sue Davis, of RA Designs, over the copyright infringement until 2021, four years after the photos were taken.
The district court originally dismissed Grecco’s case as time-barred because the photographer was considered a “sophisticated plaintiff” who should have discovered the infringement sooner.
The district court, citing Grecco’s “relative sophistication as an experienced litigator in identifying and bringing causes of action for unauthorized uses of [his] copyrighted work,” dismissed the photographer’s complaint as time-barred.
But the Second Circuit later reversed the district court’s decision, saying there’s no legal basis that sophisticated plaintiffs like Grecco get treated differently.
However, in January, shoe designer Davis filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to take up the case and rule that the Second Circuit was wrong in its decision. Davis wants the Court to rule that the clock starts ticking the moment the infringement happens — not when the artist finds out. Davis argues that courts have wrongly allowed the “discovery rule” (where time starts when a copyright owner discovers the problem) without any real backing in the law — and that the “injury rule” (where the statute of limitations starts at the moment of infringement) should apply.
Her petition argues that the Second Circuit has incorrectly adopted the discovery rule without good reason and that under the Copyright Act, a claim “accrues” when the infringement happens, not when it’s discovered.
But, according to Law360, Grecco urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to reject Davis’ appeal.
This question was recently touched upon in the Supreme Court’s decision in Warner-Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy in 2024. In that case, the Court assumed (without formally deciding) that the discovery rule applied and allowed a copyright owner to recover damages for infringement that had begun years earlier. However, it left the broader issue of whether the discovery rule should apply at all unresolved. Grecco and Davis are now pressing the Court to address the question head-on.
With this case, the Supreme Court is being asked again to finally decide whether copyright owners, such as photographers, can sue years after an infringement if they only discover it later, or whether they lose the right to sue if more than three years (the statute of limitations for copyright violation) have passed since the infringement happened, even if they had no idea it occurred.
The Texan police department investigating the confiscated Sally Mann photographs spent almost $7,000 of taxpayers’ money on a fruitless fact-finding mission to New York City.
A group of officers took a four-day trip to New York to visit the city’s museums which hold Mann’s work. They are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
ARTnews reports that the officers were there to “gather information” on the famous photographer that “might be pertinent to their investigation.”
However, the trip may have proven futile since none of Mann’s work was on display when the officers were in New York. Fort Worth Report notes that Mann’s artwork held by the four aforementioned museums hasn’t been on display “for several years.”
Nevertheless, the officers spent over $2,500 on accommodation, another $1,500 for airfare, over $2,000 in daily expenses, and other costs including $670 to enter museums that weren’t displaying Mann’s photos. All in all, the bill came to $6,988.77.
An attorney from The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas tells the Fort Worth Report that “our leaders should focus on real problems affecting Texans instead of spending taxpayer money funding field trips across the country in the name of censorship.”
Chloe Kempf adds, “The government’s shameful and failed attempt to persecute Sally Mann’s photography not only intimidated Texas’ art community and threatened all our First Amendment rights, but it also appears to have wasted costly time and resources.”
The news of the expensive trip to Manhattan comes after Fort Worth police returned Mann’s photographs which were confiscated in January as part of a child pornography investigation. They have since been returned to the artist.
“The fact-finding mission was planned efficiently to allow investigators the ability to divide and conquer a large footprint of museums and see the artwork on display in real-time,” police spokesperson Chelsea Kretz tells the Fort Worth Report. “The decision to send personnel was based on the importance of our commitment to ensuring a comprehensive investigation.”
Kretz adds that while the officers didn’t get to see any of Mann’s photos, they instead spoke with museum employees and curators in a bid to understand the exhibition process.
Mann is considered one of the most talented photographers of her generation but her intimate portraits of children have received both acclaim and criticism. A federal prosecutor once told Mann that some of her photos could subject her to arrest.
Back in January, four of her pictures were seized from The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth after a reporter from conservative online news outlet The Dallas Express visited the exhibit and accused the museum of “promoting child pornography.”
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare picked up on the reports and criticized the exhibition. “Sexual exploitation of a minor, under the guise of ‘art,’ should never be tolerated,” he wrote on X. However, the charges against Mann were dropped after a grand jury declined to take action.
Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, tells the Fort Worth Report that the trip to New York was “unnecessary”.
“It was not necessary for the police to go to New York for this investigation because the investigation was a sham,” Terr says. “It was a waste of time for the police to even go to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to seize the photos, let alone all the way to New York.”
Leica will increase the price of its products in the United States as a result of the blanket tariffs announced by President Donald Trump earlier this year. While this is an expected result stateside, it is having an adverse effect on cameras sold in Canada, too.
On April 16, The Camera Store in Calgary, Alberta received a notice from Leica USA that advised them that dealer pricing would increase on May 1 due to US tariffs.
“I contacted our rep and asked why Canadians would be subjected to US Tariffs when there are options to legally avoid charging tariffs when exporting to other countries,” Peter Jeune, Managing Director of The Camera Store (TCS) tells PetaPixel.
“They said they wanted price parity between Canada and the US which makes no sense. If an American purchased a Leica product anywhere in the world and brought it back to the US they would still be subject to the tariff. If they purchased in Canada, they would effectively end up paying the tariff twice.”
Jeune says that he asked Leica the same questions back in 2019 when the United States first imposed tariffs on German products and, “they basically said it was too much work” to have different pricing in Canada and the US.
“I asked them to reconsider last week. I was told today that this is their final decision,” Jeune says. As a result, Canadians should expect to see a 7% increase in price to Leica products.
This morning, Leica USA confirmed that pricing is going up for both regions. To add greater context to what was told to Jeune, the company says its choice is one that it is forced to make due to how it manages imports into North America.
“I can confirm that the tariff price adjustment will impact the Canadian market similarly to the US, as Leica Camera North America operates out of the US, with all imports managed through its US headquarters before reaching Canada,” Nathan Kellum-Pathe, Trade Marketing & Product Communications Manager at Leica Camera explains to PetaPixel.
“While the current tariff timeline prevents structural changes for now, Leica Camera North America is actively exploring ways to better support Canadian customers, including the possibility of establishing Canada as its own subsidiary within Leica’s global sales network.”
Trump tariffs are having wide-reaching effects, including forcing some brands to put off bringing new products into the US. It has already forced Fujifilm to halt shipments of multiple cameras into the US entirely and Canon had to answer multiple questions about its business model in 2025 during its Q1 sales report. Blackmagic canceled plans to build a factory in the US due to the increased cost of tariffs and Ilford film saw a price increase. While unconfirmed, Canon also announced a new lens yesterday that is arriving in basically all global regions except the United States and it’s hard to imagine any other reason as to why that might be the case.
A pair of detailed video lectures provide a fascinating insight into the mechanisms of CMOS image sensors — the technology featured in nearly every modern digital camera.
Modern image sensor technology is exceptionally complicated and has a rich history. It is also very interesting for technically inclined photographers who are curious about the physics and engineering behind their favorite digital cameras.
Image Sensors World highlighted a nearly hour-long lecture delivered by Richard Crisp, VP and CTO of Etron Technology America. In the video below, which is a sneak peek of The International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE)’s new course taught by Crisp, “CMOS Image Sensors: Technology, Applications, and Camera Design Methodology,” Crisp covers a wide range of topics including the differences between CCD and CMOS image sensors, common sensor architectures (like rolling versus global shutter), frontside versus backside illumination, noise, and more.
The video, despite being just one part of a larger paid lecture course, covers many important topics in the world of digital cameras. Topics like rolling versus global shutter and backside illumination are hot topics in photography, and can often be differentiating factors between competing camera models.
In the comments at Image Sensors World, an anonymous reader suggested that those interested in image sensor technology should check out a lecture from Dr. Albert Theuwissen. The video below, which, like SPIE’s video preview, is criminally under-viewed given the richness of information on offer, also covers the basic technology behind CMOS image sensors, including how they turn analog input (photons) into a digital signal, the backbone achievement foundational to digital photography at large.
As Dr. Theuwissen explains, CMOS image sensors reflect the complex combination of many sciences and technologies. An image sensor is “more than just a combination of a photodiode and a transistor,” the presentation explains; it combines device physics, semiconductor technology, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and a mixture of these circuitry types. Further, as Dr. Theuwissen says, the person, such as a photographer, who judges the success of an image sensor is extremely strict. Even a tiny bit of noise will be noticed. Further, the success or failure of a camera’s image quality goes far beyond the sensor itself — it requires sophisticated collaboration between sensor engineers, semiconductor fabricators, and image signal processors.
Dr. Theuwissen notes that through continued advancements in CMOS sensor technology, photographers can expect improved light efficiency, higher dynamic range, and more sophisticated pixel-level circuitry — although talented circuit designers are “urgently needed” for that ambition.
Between these two detailed videos, there is plenty for image sensor enthusiasts to nerd out about. While digital sensors are ultimately just one part of a photographer’s overall tool kit, it never hurts to have a better understanding of what’s going on under the hood — or behind the lens, in this case.
Caleb Denison, one of the biggest names in audio/visual reviews, made the decision earlier this month to separate from his long-time home at Digital Trends to strike out on his own. This week, Digital Trends used YouTube’s copyright strike system to take his channel down, claiming ownership of the content.
To set the stage, it’s important to first understand Digital Trends and the position it is in in 2025. While the publication has been associated with excellent content, especially in its reviews, the company dramatically scaled back its editorial team in early 2025 by laying off nearly everyone, including the editor-in-chief. Digital Trends listed 15 editorial team members in early January but today, it maintains just five supported by a small number of unnamed contracted contributors.
For years, Denison has been known for his expert evaluations of televisions and sound systems. Seeing the direction Digital Trends was going, Denison made the choice to start his own business away from Digital Trends through a new YouTube channel called CalebRated. On April 21, he launched the channel with the publication of a video titled “I just started a new channel (and company!) | Welcome to CalebRated.” Last week, he added a second video to the channel asking his viewership to help him decide what television to review first.
On Monday, both videos were no longer visible on his channel.
“I appreciate everyone’s patience, understanding, and support while I navigate a very ugly, petty situation. I’ll update as I’m able, but for now, do whatever your heart leads you to do. I’m not here to put my finger on the scale… yet. More to come. There’s a GoFundMe if you want to help that way… not hard to find,” Denison wrote cryptically on Threads.
The GoFundMe he references provides a bit more information.
“On April 27th, his former employer filed copyright claims on his new channel. This was done to harass him and shut down his new business. The claims are baseless and Caleb is fighting to keep his channel going. Please help by donating funds for legal expenses,” the platform reads.
PetaPixel spoke with an investor in Caleb’s new venture. They wished to remain anonymous but provided more background information into what appears to be happening. From their explanation, it appears as though Digital Trends, via the parent company Designtechnica Corporation, is claiming ownership of the content on Caleb’s YouTube channel.
The investor also provided the below screenshot which comes from the CalebRated channel’s admin interface on YouTube.
From what is visible publicly, it is unclear how Digital Trends is claiming ownership over the content since it is not possible to copyright a person who is no longer employed nor the branding that was published after his employment. That doesn’t matter to YouTube’s copyright strike system, though. Because YouTube’s copyright strike platform assumes that a publisher is in the wrong, it defaults to taking the “safest” course of action and removes the offending videos from the platform until the dispute can be resolved.
PetaPixel reached out multiple times to Digital Trends for comment but did not receive a response. Denison declined to comment because of the ongoing legal nature of the dispute.
As a former employee of Digital Trends, I have a hunch as to how the company believes it can claim ownership of Denison’s channel. NOTE: This is speculation, but it’s my best guess as to how this is working.
In Digital Trends employment contracts, there is an “inventions clause” and a “prior inventions clause” that states that you must list anything you are coming to the company with that is yours or it becomes theirs. Additionally, if you come up with any intellectual property while at Digital Trends, the company owns that.
While Denison didn’t make the channel public until April 21, the “joined” date of the channel is February 21, 2025. Digital Trends might have seen that date and since it was created during the time Caleb was still an employee, it could be argued it falls under the “inventions clause.”
There doesn’t appear to be precedent that creating a channel with no content constitutes the creation of IP but since Denison didn’t list CalebRated as a prior invention when he joined the company, Digital Trends likely feels that they can claim they own it. Notwithstanding that Caleb will likely argue there was no IP created on February 21, the use of a copyright strike in what appears to be an ownership claim is murky.
Digital Trends used YouTube’s copyright strike tool to take the content down, the basis of which is that they own Caleb’s channels (both his personal Caleb Loves Tech and CalebRated channels). The publication’s claim of ownership is the supposed basis for claiming copyright, but this does not meet the basis of a copyright claim.
Astrophotography gear company Move Shoot Move’s (MSM) Nomad star tracker aims to be an accessible solution for budding night sky photographers looking to take their deep-sky photography to the next level.
Move Shoot Move says the Nomad tracker is built in response to user feedback and the company’s desire to deliver the “easiest-to-use, most portable, inexpensive star tracker.” To cater to complete beginners, the Nomad is designed to be very easy to set up and use. However, experienced astrophotographers are not left in the dark (even if they do really like the dark), as Move Shoot Move promises that the Nomad is relatively portable and travel-friendly compared to the competition.
The Nomad weighs just 0.95 pounds (430 grams) with its rechargeable battery included. The device, which mounts between the user’s tripod and their camera, can support up to 7.7 pounds (3.5 kilograms) of equipment, making it plenty robust enough to handle the majority of astrophotography setups including full-frame cameras and fast prime lenses.
The Nomad is not Move Shoot Move’s first foray into the astrophotography space. The company previously made the MSM Rotator. MSM says the Nomad is vastly superior, thanks to improved attachment points, a higher load capacity, simplified usability, a more portable design, and better star tracking performance. The MSM Rotator may still be the superior option for certain specific applications, including night sky timelapses, although the Nomad can work for those, too.
As mentioned, the MSM Nomad is primarily built for star tracking. Star trackers are an essential piece of gear for advanced astrophotography because the Earth’s rotation, which is seldom an issue during daytime photography, significantly impacts long-exposure night sky photography. Even with a fast wide-angle lens, the required shutter speeds to get good, relatively low-noise night sky shots often result in stars looking less like pinpoints and more like streaks. The issue is exacerbated when using the longer lenses required to capture deep-sky astro photos.
The solution is star trackers, which precisely move a photographer’s camera setup in perfect alignment with the Earth’s rotation. Once set up, which MSM says is easy with the Nomad, photographers will be able to capture sharp photos of pinpoint stars even when using extremely long exposure times — minutes to even hours long.
The Move Shoot Move Nomad is about $285 in a “starter kit” configuration that comes with the Nomad, a ballhead, and a calibrated pointer. A kit that trades out the ballhead for a polar scope is $340. There are many different options available, including ones designed for smartphone photographers, featured on Move Shoot Move’s website.
This week, Chris Niccolls published his review of Yashica’s latest digital camera, the City 100. PetaPixel had a lot of questions about the camera from the get-go and were less than impressed with its performance. Since we published that review, new information has come to light that makes the situation around Yashica’s point-and-shoot look somehow worse than initially thought.
We received a tip from a viewer in Hong Kong who, after watching Niccolls review on YouTube, noticed the camera looked extremely familiar to one that is listed on 1688.com. 1688.com is a China-based online marketplace designed to cater to business-to-business clients. The company works primarily with brands in China but once those deals are struck, brands are free to sell those products anywhere.
The listing on 1688 appears to be the same camera that Yashica is selling as the City 100 but without the Yashica branding. Not only does the design of the camera appear identical, but the specifications — including 5K video, the 13-megapixel sensor with interpolation up to 72 megapixels, the 2.8-inch rear LCD, the USB-C and microSD card support, and the dimensions of the camera — are one-for-one copies.
The listing on 1688.com prices the camera at 530 yuan, or about 565 HKD — which is about $72. That leaves plenty of margin for the company that operates the Yashica brand since it’s selling the City 100 for 1,780 HKD, which is about $230.
Considering that Yashica does appear to sometimes manufacture original products (even if they are exceptionally bad), it’s disappointing to see the company resort to what appears to be the selling an off-the-shelf compact digital camera and playing it off as their own. If true, it also goes a long way toward explaining why Yashica declined to send PetaPixel a review sample.
“I wouldn’t consider the Yashica a good long-term investment, and the cameras are expensive enough that it will hurt when they fall apart sooner than you would think,” Niccolls writes in his review, and his sentiments about build quality aren’t without personal experience: the sample he tested was purchased directly from Yashica and within a few minutes of use, the metal ring around the front of the lens dislodged.
It’s not a secret that the Yashica brand of 2025 is not the same as the brand that created some of the most beloved film cameras of the decades past. Still, if this is what it appears to be, it’s a let-down to see the Yashica name associated with this kind of low-effort product.
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