Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who went viral last summer after pointing and waving guns at protestors marching near their home, have filed a lawsuit against a photographer they claim trespassed on their property in order to capture a picture of the moment.
via Complex:
The Mark, both of whom are lawyers, filed the suit against United Press International (UPI) photographer Bill Greenblatt, in addition to also naming that wire service, on Friday in St. Louis Circuit Court.
Newspaper photographers are allowed to snap pictures from public rights of way, but the McCloskeys contend that Greenblatt entered a private street in their posh neighborhood to capture the image.
They say that Greenblatt’s photo played a part in their “significant national recognition and infamy.”
Law and Crime reports that the couple is also going after the online marketplace Redbubble Inc. (which sells print on-demand products) because it featured merchandise with their likenesses.
In the suit the couple writes that Redbubble, Greenblatt, and UPI are making money off of “t-shirts, masks, and other items, and licensing use of photographs bearing Plaintiffs’ likenesses, without obtaining Plaintiffs’ consent.”
They say that their picture on Redbubble merchandise is often paired with “mocking and pejorative taglines or captions,” which they say has led to “humiliation, mental anguish, and severe emotional distress.”
Mark McCloskey tweeted about his lawsuit (and what he believes is a stolen election):
Our little problem is insignificant in light of the attempted election theft, but we have brought suit against the UPI photog who stole our pictures, and Redbubble which is raking in the bucks selling our pictures on T shirts, etc., without permission!
— Mark McCloskey (@mccloskeyusa) November 8, 2020
So after trespassing into my neighborhood, stealing our photos, publishing it all over the world, subjecting us to endless memes, now the UPI thinks we should be the only people in the world that can't use the photo!!! https://t.co/95ekJFEMem
— Mark McCloskey (@mccloskeyusa) October 27, 2020
Let us remind you there’s a criminal case against the McCloskey’s that’s currently ongoing over this whole ordeal.
