Gregerson v. Vilana Financial, Inc., Civil No. 06-1164 (D. Minn. blog claim withdrawn Aug. 15, 2007).
Status: Defendant’s defamation counterclaim withdrawn; $19,462 award on underlying copyright claim


In March 2006, Chris Gregerson filed a copyright suit against Andrew Vilenchik, alleging that Vilenchik had used photos from his website in advertisements for his company, Vilana Financial, without permission. Gregerson wrote about the lawsuit on his website www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us, leading Vilenchik to file a separate suit in Minnesota state court for libel. The libel claim was moved to federal court in August 2006, and in November 2006 the court denied Vilenchik’s motion to enjoin Gregerson from referring to his company and web site. At an August hearing in the underlying copyright case, Vilenchik withdrew his defamation case. Later in August 2007, the court dismissed the claims against Vilenchik, but granted summary judgment for Gregerson against Vilana Financial. After a bench trial on damages on the copyright claim, the court awarded the Gregerson $19,462.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/gregerson-v-vilana-financial-inc
http://www.cgstock.com/essays/vilana
http://www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us/essays/vilana.html#defamation_lawsuit
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/25/0159250&from=rss
Verdict: http://www.cgstock.com/essays/gregerson_v_vilana_judgment_152.pdf

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