Oh, snap! Apple and the Swiss are not having a good time right now. This morning, we reported in the Spice that Apple has just had to license the iconic Swiss-designed railway clock for use in its iOS 6 operation system. Now, Swiss photographer Sabine Liewald has filed a lawsuit against Apple for what she claims is the unauthorised use of one of her photographs.

The photo in question (known only as “Eye Closeup”) is a closeup of a made-up eye, taken by Liewald in her job as a fashion photographer. Apple approached her New York agency, Factory Downtown, asking for a high-resolution photograph to be used for “comping.” This is essentially the process of making composite images and creating layouts, the opposite of putting a photo front and centre for the purposes of a marketing campaign. The main thrust of the suit is as follows:

Despite representing that it did not intend to use the photo and knowing that it had not obtained a license, Apple proceeded to copy, publish, and exploit Plaintiff’s ‘Eye Closeup’ photograph, including in its MacBook Pro advertising campaign, keynote address, and related advertising materials without permission or compensation.

Liewald and her attorneys are now seeking to claim a sizable chunk of change from the Cupertino tech giant, hoping to get their share of profits generated as a result of the marketing material, as well as attorneys and court fees, even adding a catch-all for “any other gains.”

Will anything come of this? Probably not – the image hasn’t been used all that much, and this points to the likelihood that its use was an oversight. The main image used in the promotion of the MacBook Pro Retina has been the image of the Zebras running through the Okavango Delta in Botswana, taken on film by Steve Bloom.

Liewald will most likely receive a nice little settlement behind closed doors though.

[Source: The Register]