Posts Tagged: "Pohl v. MH Sub I LLC"

Eleventh Circuit Takes A Bite Out of Originality in Dentist Photographer Case

Ownership of a valid copyright requires that the work be independently created by the author and have some “minimal degree of creativity,” as required by Feist Publ’ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., Inc. The Eleventh Circuit recently waded into this area of law in May of 2019 when it decided Pohl v. MH Sub I LLC. The question is: did they get it right? Dr. Mitchell Pohl is a dentist based in Florida who took before and after photographs of his patient’s teeth to show his efforts in cosmetic dentistry. Dr. Pohl personally took these photographs. After performing a reverse image search, Dr. Pohl determined that the defendant published certain images of Dr. Pohl’s patients without authorization. Dr. Pohl subsequently filed suit. The district court, in a decision on summary judgment riddled with puns about teeth and dentistry, determined that the images lacked creativity and originality to subsequently receive copyright protection.