National Geographic to pay $400,000 for photos on CD-ROM

Photographer Jerry Greenberg sold his pictures to the magazine over a period spanning almost 40 years. According to the Miami Daily Business Review, his contract included a clause stating that after publication, all rights to his photos reverted to him. He sued in 1997 when the magazine included four of his photographs in a 30-disc CD-ROM anthology of the 108-year-old publication.

Greenberg argued that the CD-ROM was not simply a reprint of his existing work. Initially, he lost in a Miami district court to the publishers' argument that the CD-ROM was no different to a bound volume of magazines or copies on microfiche. However, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled in his favour, saying that the CD-ROM was not "merely a revision of the prior collective work, but instead constitutes a new collective work."

The appeals court also ruled that Greenberg was entitled to damages, court costs and legal fees, which were to be determined by the same Miami court that had first rejected his claims. National Geographic petitioned the Supreme Court, asking it to accept the Greenberg Case for full review.

The Supreme Court declined, so the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Miami for a determination of damages. That was accomplished in a seven-day trial that ended last month, awarding Greenberg maximum statutory damages of $100,000 for each of 4 works infringed.

National Geographic said that it "regrets and respectfully disagrees with the jury verdict in the Miami court". It added: "We look forward to arguing the motion to set aside the verdict, which is still pending with the trial judge in Miami, and will further pursue every legal remedy available to us."