pilatestransparencyproject 01 06 2023
- Jun 1, 2023
- 1 min read
Five witnesses have submitted declarations in the Pilates copyright infringement case, including Chuck Rapoport and four instructors who have also been threatened by or received takedowns of their IG accounts by Gallagher.
In October 2021, Heather Erdmann posted research photos of Joe on the wunda chair from the Carola Trier collection at the New York Public Library. Within hours, Gallagher’s “Pilates Source™️” partner posted numerous photos from the collection to *her* IG account and Heather received a message from Gallagher stating that “because they are copyrighted as are most of the Joe pictures in Carola’s collection in the library” she did not have permission to use them.
An IG takedown followed, and a letter from an attorney representing “Sean Gallagher and Richtone Design Group, LLC dba Sean Gallagher’s Pilates Archives™️ and Pilates Source™️.” The letter warned against posting ANY unpublished image of Joseph Pilates as “One cannot be certain that any other work is available in the public domain and runs the risk the risk of infringement by copying.”
So basically, Gallagher can and will claim to own any images of Joe whether in libraries, archives, or private collections including materials clearly in the public domain or subject to someone else’s legitimate ©️. (In 2021 he caused the NYPL to restrict photo access to their Pilates-related materials, which restriction was investigated and removed, a colossal waste of time and resources.)
Heather’s Declaration as a witness in this case led Gallagher’s attorneys to subpoena her and schedule her for a seven-hour deposition on June 22. These depositions are time-consuming and expensive. Please consider a donation to our GoFundMe, 100% of which goes to cover legal fees.
Comments