Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Over Lost Slides

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18 June 2009

The ruling on photographer Chris Usher's case against Corbis for losing a case of 12,640 slides, including images from the 2000 presidential campaign, was upheld in the New York Court of Appeals in April.

After winning $157,000 in damages in 2008 despite Corbis' attempt to show that he was negligent in his slide storage, Usher went to the appeals court claiming the payment was not enough to compensate for the slides he entrusted to the photo company.

Usher argued that the court inaccurately estimated damages by referring to a similar case, Grace v. Corbis, because Grace had more licensing experience than he did. Usher also argued that he should be compensated for the uniqueness of his photos.

The appeals court ruled against both of these arguments, saying that the damages were accurately determined and that it was, impractical or impossible to evaluate‚ the slides because they were lost.