Schrock v. Learning Curve International, Inc.

HIT Entertainment (defendant) owned the Thomas & Friends train character copyrights and licensed Learning Curve (defendant) to make toys based on them; Learning Curve hired Schrock (plaintiff) to photograph the toys from 1999 to 2003, using techniques that made the toys look slightly better than in person, but continued using his photographs afterward without further payment. Schrock sued for copyright infringement; the district court granted summary judgment to the defendants, holding the photographs were derivative works that didn't meet the originality threshold for copyright protection and that Schrock would have needed Learning Curve's permission to copyright them, which he lacked.