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Home > Vilenchik v. Gregerson (Letter)

Vilenchik v. Gregerson (Letter) [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Wed, 09/12/2007 - 19:25

Summary

Threat Type: 

Correspondence

Date: 

10/04/2005

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Lawsuit Filed

Location: 

Minnesota

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
Gregerson is a photographer who maintains a website containing his professional photographs. Vilana Financial, Inc. used two of Gregerson's pictures without permission in phone-book and web advertisements, and print advertisements in a local Russian-language newspaper. Gregerson discovered Vilana's use of his photographs... read full description
Parties

Party Issuing Legal Threat: 

Andrew Vilenchik

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Chris Gregerson

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Individual

Location of Party: 

  • Minnesota

Location of Party: 

  • Minnesota

Legal Counsel: 

Richard Raver - Smith & Raver, LLP
Description

Gregerson is a photographer who maintains a website containing his professional photographs. Vilana Financial, Inc. used two of Gregerson's pictures without permission in phone-book and web advertisements, and print advertisements in a local Russian-language newspaper. Gregerson discovered Vilana's use of his photographs and contacted the company asking for compensation. Vilana refused, claiming that it purchased the photographs from a third party (neither party was able to locate this third party during the subsequent litigation).

Gregerson devoted a portion of his website to a discussion of the disagreement over the photographs. On it, he claimed that Andrew Vilenchik had published two of his photos without permission in a series of ads for Vilana. Along with the text, Gregerson posted a photograph of Vilenchik.

According to Gregerson's website, on October 4, 2005, Richard Raver sent him a cease-and-desist letter on behalf of Vilenchik, demanding that Gregerson remove the webpage or face a lawsuit for defamation. Apparently, Gregerson replied with an offer to remove anything that Vilenchik could show was not true.

Vilana Financial filed a lawsuit against Gregerson in Minnesota state court on October 24, 2005. Please see the [2]CMLP's Database Entry on the related lawsuit, Gregerson v. Vilana Financial [2], for more information on the status of the suit.

Related Links: 

CMLP's Database Entry on the Related Lawsuit: Gregerson v. Vilana Financial [2]

Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

Phototour of Minneapolis [3]

Content Type: 

  • Photo
  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Website

Subject Area: 

  • Defamation
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Minnesota
CMLP Information (Private)

CMLP Notes: 

related to Gregerson v. Vilana Financial [2]

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:04pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/vilenchik-v-gregerson-letter

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/vilenchik-v-gregerson-letter
[2] https://www.dmlp.org/gregerson-v-vilana-financial-inc
[3] http://www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us/essays/vilana.html