Menifee 24/7 Sues Menifee Buzz for Unfair Practices

Menifee 24/7 has filed a lawsuit against local newspaper Menifee Buzz in Riverside County Small Claims Court, alleging conversion of Menifee 24/7-owned images and unfair business practices.

Menifee 24/7, an online-only news organization, is seeking $10,000 from the Menifee Buzz and its owner, Yanik Gozlan, citing fair market value of license fees for three Menifee 24/7 news photos that Menifee Buzz published on its website and multiple Facebook pages for approximately two months -- all without permission and without any credit given to Menifee 24/7.

In legal terms, "conversion" is defined as any unauthorized act that deprives an owner of personal property without his or her consent.

Menifee Buzz prints a monthly newspaper that is delivered free to homes and businesses in the city. The images in question were published on the Menifee Buzz website and Facebook page, in addition to Facebook pages in Murrieta and Temecula.

The Menifee 24/7 photos used without permission on Menifee Buzz Internet sites were:

-- A photo of a local youth whose dream was to play football despite having a prosthetic leg. Menifee 24/7's original story and photo was published Nov. 2, 2014. The same photo appeared with a Menifee Buzz article on the young man on multiple Internet sites from Jan. 9 through March 24, 2015, according to court documents.

-- A photo taken during a groundbreaking ceremony at the future site of the Commerce Pointe industrial park. Menifee 24/7's original story and photo was published Jan. 12, 2015. The same photo appeared with a Menifee Buzz article on multiple Internet sites from Feb. 5 to March 13, according to the complaint.

-- A photo of the owners of Keller's Jewelers, a Menifee business. A Menifee 24/7 photographer took the photo, which was published with an article on the business in 2011. The same photo was posted on Menifee Buzz Internet sites from Feb. 13 to March 13, 2015, accompanying an article on Keller's, which now advertises with Menifee Buzz. Keller's Jewelers previously advertised with Menifee 24/7.

Menifee 24/7 owner and editor Doug Spoon said that through his attorney, he asked multiple times for removal of the images from Menifee Buzz Internet sites and for compensation for illegal use of the images. Spoon said that even after his attorney sent a cease and desist letter, some of the images were not removed immediately. Gozlan claimed in an email sent to his attorney and Spoon's attorney that he was not intially aware of all Menifee Buzz sites on which the photos appeared.

All images have now been removed. Despite several attempts to resolve the matter out of court, Gozlan has refused to publicly acknowledge the unauthorized use of the images or provide any compensation to Menifee 24/7.

"At Menifee 24/7, we pride ourselves on ethical journalism and business practices," Spoon said. "We expect others to do the same. We believe we did everything possible to avoid taking action in court. We attempted for almost two months to negotiate, but Mr. Gozlan left us no choice."

The trial date is set for June 17 in the Riverside County Superior Court small claims division in Murrieta.