'The general public familiar with the plaintiff’s work may assume that this image is a veteran of war, and that the (photographer) licensed the image to an entity that makes profit from liquor sales,' the lawsuit states, adding this could be viewed as a 'betrayal' by military members.Īccording to the lawsuit, the photo also ran on Menjos' Facebook page on the Fourth of July.
'(Stokes) also tempered the use of models partially nude in uniform - when photographing his veteran subjects,' the lawsuit states, noting 'photographing veterans in partial uniform is controversial and within the armed forces community is often frowned upon.'Īccording to the lawsuit, the model in the photo at issue is not a veteran of war, and was photographed before Stokes became famous for photographing wounded war veterans. '(Menjos) has received a financial benefit directly attributable to the Infringement,' the lawsuit states.Īccording to the lawsuit, since creating the Bronson image, Stokes went on to become world renowned for photographing American and British wounded veterans of war, and over time 'became more selective about when and where he posts any image depicting or alluding to the armed services.' More: Pride Month 2022: Your guide to celebrating LGBTQ pride across Michigan More: Mystery novel set in Detroit suburb follows gay couple who solve murder