Mannion v. Coors Brewing Co.
Mannion v. Coors Brewing Co. (377 F.Supp.2d 444) is a 2005 copyright case decided by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. It concerns the issue of copyrightability in photography. Jonathan Mannion, the plaintiff, sued the brewer and its advertising agency, Carol H. Williams Advertising (CHWA), alleging they had too closely copied an image he took of basketball star Kevin Garnett. Mannion had photographed Garnett wearing athletic clothing and jewelry for a magazine article. CHWA, after having licensed Mannion's image for possible use on a billboard, decided to shoot a very similar image for its ads.