Heredia v. Millennium TeleCard, Inc.
The date was December 1, 2008. I had just received a phone call from one of my customers in New York (Julio) who wanted to congratulate me on a Dominican calling card he saw with my artwork on it. "Yo Dave, I just bought one of your calling cards from the bodega," he said excitedly. "That's great!" I thought, except..wait a minute..I never designed any calling cards. Thus began the Massachusetts district court case number 1:2009cv10363.
I always heard about copyright infringement but thought it was the kind of stuff that happened to other artists. I read somewhere that as an artist, the greatest compliment anyone can give you is stealing your artwork. Personally, I'd much rather someone told me that my work inspired them somehow, or taught them something valuable. With several opportunities to contact me via email, phone, text, social networking...Millennium TeleCard, Inc. (MTC) opted not to utilize any of these options. "Are you sure that it's my work?" I asked. "I mean, take another look, are you positive," I pressed on. Julio responded " I know your work man, you have a very unique style." Normally those words would be comforting to hear, but this time it was like a string of bad words cussin' me out. I asked Julio to take a snapshot of the card with his phone an text me the image. He agreed, we hung up, and the next 67 seconds were the longest of my life. As the image slowly downloaded, I stood motionless as the image appeared on my cellphone screen. There was no doubt, I was officially the newest member of the copyright infringed club. I asked Julio to mail the card (once he used it) to my lawyer in Massachusetts and promised him that if I won this case, I would reward him well.
" I always heard about copyright infringement but thought it was the kind of stuff that happened to other artists ."The ensuing months that followed were aggravating. With little cooperation from MTC, we worried that they would just pack up and relocate. When contact was finally made, they adamantly denied any wrong doing on their part, claiming they had no idea how my image mysteriously ended up on their calling cards. To add insult to injury, the cards were actually being sold in the neighborhood where I was born and raised. Several requests were made by my lawyer to obtain documents from MTC, none of which were made available to us. The first court date after the suit was filed was in August 2009, where courtroom depositions were scheduled for January 11, 2010. We were confident this would put a little pressure on them but our confidence was misplaced. We heard nothing for another four months.
As 2010 was ushered in, expensive courtroom proceedings were fast approaching. MTC had to make a decision on how to handle this case. They finally decided to contact my lawyer to discuss a settlement. After negotiations were made, the first person I called was Julio. I told him to look out for a check in the mail, the case is officially closed. Thanks to his watchful eye, a modern day "David" legally took on and beat "Goliath." In closing, I would like to say to any prospective businesses interested in my work, please contact me. I am open to licensing my characters if the opportunity is right. To my supporters who are familiar with my work, If you should see artwork that resembles my work even slightly on merchandise or online without "Heredia Designs" somewhere in the drawing, contact me. If the work turns out to be another case of copyright infringement and the case is won, I will reward you for your vigilance.
Published (1-18-2010) - Back to news updates