Alley Cat Allies is Suing My Friend
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UPDATED. SCROLL DOWN.
Alley Cat Allies is claiming they own photos that they do not.
Further, they are suing the photographer, Jason Putsche, who took the photos for giving them to feral cat caregivers and small nonprofit organizations who promote Trap-Neuter-Return and the protection of outdoor cats, and his wife Elizabeth—an animal advocate and former employee and contractor of 8 years. Alley Cat Allies is suing the Putsche’s for damages “in excess of $1,000,000.00.”
How can they do this?
Because they have an annual income of 10 million dollars. And they are spending donations on this legal fight. And in our legal system, the party with the most money usually wins.
In the past two years, Alley Cat Allies has spent nearly half a million dollars of donations on legal fees ($478,040!).
Alley Cat Allies 2017 990 - $274,755 Legal Fees
Alley Cat Allies 2016 990 – $203,275 Legal Fees
Please make a donation of $5, $10, or $20 to help Jason and Elizabeth Putsche defend themselves! Photography is their livelihood.
This lawsuit shines a light on the failure of the law to protect copyright owners. Any company or organization can register your copyrighted work and sue you in federal court for infringement—and if you don’t have the money to defend yourself you have little choice but to settle and give them your work.
It’s also something that I believe, as a past donor to Alley Cat Allies, anyone who has made a donation to Alley Cat Allies should know.
The Putsche’s have been in this legal battle for years and their out of pocket legal fees now exceed $150,000.00.
Please help them defend themselves so they can continue to share their photos with feral cat groups and caregivers.
This case is active. It is before Judge Grimm . IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND (Southern Division)
There have been some questions - so here is more background and details:
Jason Putsche is a photographer and an animal advocate. For the past 10 years he has photographed outdoor cats — also called feral, stray, and alley, cats — with the objective of showing the public the cats’ unique personalities to garner support for their protection and for Trap-Neuter-Return.
Between 2008 and 2014 Jason licensed a large number of his outdoor cat photos to nonprofit Alley Cat Allies — with an operating budget of over 10 million dollars — for use in their printed and online materials at roughly $2 per photo. It was a perpetual (forever), non-exclusive (not just to them), royalty free (no additional costs) license that required a photo credit in printed materials.
He also licensed many of the photos (free of charge) to many smaller organizations — typically the nonprofits or individuals who were personally feeding and caring for the cats in the photos — and to media outlets that were writing about feral cats.
In May 2016, the Putsche’s received a letter from the Federal Copyright Office notifying Jason that Alley Cat Allies had submitted two sets of registrations for all the photos he had licensed to the nonprofit (which he had already registered with the agency). Alley Cat Allies paid an expedited fee ($800 per registration).
For an ‘organization’ to be the copyright holder of a photo by a person who is not an employee there has to be a “work-for-hire” written and signed contract in place. There is no contract governing the photography relationship between Jason and Alley Cat Allies. Read more about “work-for-hire” here.
On June 1, 2016, Alley Cat Allies filed a lawsuit against Jason, his company (Jason Putsche Photography), his wife Elizabeth (a former employee and contractor of Alley Cat Allies for 8 years), and the nonprofit they started (For All Animals) in Federal District Court for copyright infringement, breach of contract, and competition with employer or principal.
The Putsches went through three days of federal mediation with Alley Cat Allies Chief Operating Officer, Charlene Pedrolie, and Alley Cat Allies declined to settle.
The Putsches are now in the midst of discovery and depositions — which is the most expensive part of litigation. All to retain copyrights that belong to Jason.
As with all lawsuits, there have been complications, and this is not a play-by-play of every step in the process — but it’s enough to understand that an independent photographer is fighting to maintain the right to distribute his own photos of outdoor cats to other organizations, and maintain the existing licenses he has already granted to individuals and organizations who care for the feral cats in his photos.
Some information about Alley Cat Allies that is readily available on the internet or in the public domain:
In 2018 alone, they have had 4 complaints/investigations by the National Labor Relations Board –one of which is still open . (Complaint #1 , Complaint #2 , Complaint #3 , Complaint #4 )
In 2017, Alley Cat Allies President Becky Robinson’s salary was $224,051.00 (a 25% increase over 2016) with additional compensation of $41,258. (Page 7 of their most recent 990 )
In 2015, Alley Cat Allies used donor dollars to purchase the single family home adjacent to Alley Cat Allies’ President Becky Robinson’s residence.
In 2017, they were investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In 2017, 6.8% of the organization’s total donations paid the compensation of three employees totaling $691,205 (two of which are on the board of directors.) President Becky Robinson, Vice President Donna Wilcox, and Chief Operating Officer Charlene Pedrolie—who does not appear on the organization’s website because she is “too controversial” after being New York City’s Animal Care and Control executive director .
Alley Cat Allies is claiming they own photos that they do not.
Further, they are suing the photographer, Jason Putsche, who took the photos for giving them to feral cat caregivers and small nonprofit organizations who promote Trap-Neuter-Return and the protection of outdoor cats, and his wife Elizabeth—an animal advocate and former employee and contractor of 8 years. Alley Cat Allies is suing the Putsche’s for damages “in excess of $1,000,000.00.”
How can they do this?
Because they have an annual income of 10 million dollars. And they are spending donations on this legal fight. And in our legal system, the party with the most money usually wins.
In the past two years, Alley Cat Allies has spent nearly half a million dollars of donations on legal fees ($478,040!).
Alley Cat Allies 2017 990 - $274,755 Legal Fees
Alley Cat Allies 2016 990 – $203,275 Legal Fees
Please make a donation of $5, $10, or $20 to help Jason and Elizabeth Putsche defend themselves! Photography is their livelihood.
This lawsuit shines a light on the failure of the law to protect copyright owners. Any company or organization can register your copyrighted work and sue you in federal court for infringement—and if you don’t have the money to defend yourself you have little choice but to settle and give them your work.
It’s also something that I believe, as a past donor to Alley Cat Allies, anyone who has made a donation to Alley Cat Allies should know.
The Putsche’s have been in this legal battle for years and their out of pocket legal fees now exceed $150,000.00.
Please help them defend themselves so they can continue to share their photos with feral cat groups and caregivers.
This case is active. It is before Judge Grimm . IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND (Southern Division)
There have been some questions - so here is more background and details:
Jason Putsche is a photographer and an animal advocate. For the past 10 years he has photographed outdoor cats — also called feral, stray, and alley, cats — with the objective of showing the public the cats’ unique personalities to garner support for their protection and for Trap-Neuter-Return.
Between 2008 and 2014 Jason licensed a large number of his outdoor cat photos to nonprofit Alley Cat Allies — with an operating budget of over 10 million dollars — for use in their printed and online materials at roughly $2 per photo. It was a perpetual (forever), non-exclusive (not just to them), royalty free (no additional costs) license that required a photo credit in printed materials.
He also licensed many of the photos (free of charge) to many smaller organizations — typically the nonprofits or individuals who were personally feeding and caring for the cats in the photos — and to media outlets that were writing about feral cats.
In May 2016, the Putsche’s received a letter from the Federal Copyright Office notifying Jason that Alley Cat Allies had submitted two sets of registrations for all the photos he had licensed to the nonprofit (which he had already registered with the agency). Alley Cat Allies paid an expedited fee ($800 per registration).
For an ‘organization’ to be the copyright holder of a photo by a person who is not an employee there has to be a “work-for-hire” written and signed contract in place. There is no contract governing the photography relationship between Jason and Alley Cat Allies. Read more about “work-for-hire” here.
On June 1, 2016, Alley Cat Allies filed a lawsuit against Jason, his company (Jason Putsche Photography), his wife Elizabeth (a former employee and contractor of Alley Cat Allies for 8 years), and the nonprofit they started (For All Animals) in Federal District Court for copyright infringement, breach of contract, and competition with employer or principal.
The Putsches went through three days of federal mediation with Alley Cat Allies Chief Operating Officer, Charlene Pedrolie, and Alley Cat Allies declined to settle.
The Putsches are now in the midst of discovery and depositions — which is the most expensive part of litigation. All to retain copyrights that belong to Jason.
As with all lawsuits, there have been complications, and this is not a play-by-play of every step in the process — but it’s enough to understand that an independent photographer is fighting to maintain the right to distribute his own photos of outdoor cats to other organizations, and maintain the existing licenses he has already granted to individuals and organizations who care for the feral cats in his photos.
Some information about Alley Cat Allies that is readily available on the internet or in the public domain:
In 2018 alone, they have had 4 complaints/investigations by the National Labor Relations Board –one of which is still open . (Complaint #1 , Complaint #2 , Complaint #3 , Complaint #4 )
In 2017, Alley Cat Allies President Becky Robinson’s salary was $224,051.00 (a 25% increase over 2016) with additional compensation of $41,258. (Page 7 of their most recent 990 )
In 2015, Alley Cat Allies used donor dollars to purchase the single family home adjacent to Alley Cat Allies’ President Becky Robinson’s residence.
In 2017, they were investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In 2017, 6.8% of the organization’s total donations paid the compensation of three employees totaling $691,205 (two of which are on the board of directors.) President Becky Robinson, Vice President Donna Wilcox, and Chief Operating Officer Charlene Pedrolie—who does not appear on the organization’s website because she is “too controversial” after being New York City’s Animal Care and Control executive director .
Organizer and beneficiary
Stanley White
Organizer
Ashburn, VA
Elizabeth Putsche
Beneficiary
