Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp.
77 F. Supp. 2d 1116 (C.D. Cal. 1999) - full text opinion
Leslie Kelly is well known for his photographs of pioneer cabins that are related to the series of Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Kelly helps run a website dedicated to Ms. Wilder's books, as well as two other sites related to the California Gold Rush.
Kelly appealed the District Court's ruling to the Ninth Circuit, which agreed that Ditto's use of thumbnail images was not infringing, but overruled the lower court as to the legality of using full-size images. Some have criticized the ruling, including Kelly himself. Upon remand, the lower court awarded Kelly $345,000 in damages.
In the meantime, Kelly has joined with other photographers in filing more copyright infringement lawsuits.