Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
The top photo has Tara Mapes’ copyright watermark on it. The bottom photograph, while nearly identical, has Angelic Ice Photography Branding instead of Tara Mapes’ watermark.
A new lawsuit has been filed by photographer and digital artist Tara Mapes, who claims her copyrighted work has been repeatedly copied and distributed without permission through Facebook groups. Mapes, who lives in Guilford, Indiana, alleges that her original images and design templates were taken, altered, and sold by individuals and businesses online, with some groups having memberships in the hundreds of thousands.
The complaint names as defendants several unidentified individuals who manage the Facebook groups, a South African business called Angelic Ice Photography and its owner Tanisha Lloyd, and Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook. Mapes asserts that Angelic Ice, for example, removed her watermarks, replaced them with its own branding, and used her creations to advertise its services to tens of thousands of followers.
According to the lawsuit, Mapes has submitted thousands of takedown notices to Meta between 2021 and 2025 under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. She claims Meta acknowledged some of her reports but failed to remove all of the infringing content or shut down repeat offenders. In some cases, she says her ability to report violations was blocked, forcing her to rely on emails and certified mail.
The complaint argues that Meta benefited from user activity in the infringing groups, including advertising revenue and data collection, and that the company ignored its obligation to act on known violations. Mapes accuses Meta of both contributory and vicarious copyright infringement, while also holding the other defendants directly responsible for copying and distributing her work.
Through the lawsuit, Mapes is seeking damages, legal fees, and court orders preventing further use of her copyrighted material. The case highlights ongoing tensions between individual creators and large online platforms over how effectively copyright protections are enforced in the digital space.
The case has been assigned to Judge Richard L. Young and Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana Case No. 1:25-cv-01574.