CopyrightS.D.N.Y.1:25-cv-09692

Mcgucken v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc.

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Summary

Dr. Elliot Mcgucken sues Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean for copyright infringement over allegedly stolen creative works.

Summary generated by AI from public docket data. Verify against the original filing before relying on it.

Deep summary (AI brief of the complaint)

**Plaintiff:** Dr. Elliot McGucken, individual landscape photographer residing in California. **Defendant:** Celebrity Cruises, Inc. (Florida corporation) and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. (Liberian limited company), joint operators of celebritycruises.com. **Core allegation:** Defendants reproduced and publicly displayed McGucken's copyrighted landscape photograph on the Celebrity Cruises blog (URLs: celebritycruises.com/blog/things-to-do-in-astoria-oregon and a directly hosted image upload) without authorization. McGucken sent a cease-and-desist on October 6, 2023; the infringing content remained live as of the filing date. **Asserted IP:** - One registered photograph ("Subject Photograph"), a landscape image of Cannon Beach/Astoria, Oregon; copyright registration number not stated in complaint **Relief sought:** Injunction, disgorgement of profits, actual or statutory damages up to $150,000 per infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2), constructive trust, attorneys' fees, and costs. **Why it matters:** Illustrates ongoing litigation risk for major travel and hospitality brands that source blog imagery from the open web without licensing verification.

AI-generated from the filed complaint. Always verify against the original document.

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Counsel of record

For the plaintiff
For the defendant
Court
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Docket no.
1:25-cv-09692
Nature of suit
Copyright
Judge
Andrew L. Carter, Jr
Filed
2025-11-20
Last filing
2026-09-04

Cause

17:101 Copyright Infringement

Entities in this case

Mcgucken5Celebrity Cruises

Parties

Dr. Elliot Mcgucken (plaintiff) Does 1-10 (defendant) Royal Carribean Cruises, Ltd. (defendant) Celebrity Cruises, Inc. (defendant)

Docket entries

  1. #262026-08-07

    Memo Endorsement

  2. #252026-08-06

    Letter

  3. #242026-08-05

    Order

  4. 2026-08-04

    Settlement Conference

  5. #232026-07-10

    AO 121 Form Copyright - Case Terminated - Submitted

  6. #222026-07-09

    ORDER: It having been reported to this matter has been or will be settled, it is hereby ORDERED that the above-captioned action is discontinued without costs and without prejudice to restoring the action to this Courts calendar if the application to restore the action is made within thirty days. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr on 7/9/2026) (ar)

  7. 2026-07-08

    Settlement Conference

  8. #212026-06-15

    ORDER SCHEDULING SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE: A settlement conference is scheduled before Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses on July 8, 2026, at 2:15 p.m., in Courtroom 20A, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10007. This is an in-person proceeding. (Settlement Conference set for 7/8/2026 at 2:15 PM in Courtroom 20A, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10007 before Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses)(Signed by Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses on 6/15/2026)(tk)

  9. 2026-03-09

    Telephone Conference

  10. 2026-03-04

    Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr: Telephone Pre-motion Conference held on 3/4/2026. David Jenkins for plaintiff. Eleanor Lackman for defendants. See Docket No. 16 for complete details. (tdh)

  11. 2025-11-24

    ***NOTICE TO ATTORNEY REGARDING DEFICIENT COPYRIGHT FORM. Notice to Attorney David Jenkins to RE-FILE re: Document No. 4 AO 121 Form Copyright - Notice of Submission by Attorney. The filing is deficient for the following reason(s): the PDF attached to the docket entry for the AO 121 Copyright form is not correct; the Copyright Registration Number field on the AO 121 Copyright form was not completed by the attorney. Re-file the document using the event type AO 121 Form Copyright - Notice of Submission by Attorney found under the event list Other Documents and attach the correct AO 121 Copyright PDF form Do not re-file the form. The Court has corrected the deficiency/deficiencies.. (sj)

  12. 2025-11-24

    Case Designated ECF. (sj)

  13. 2025-11-24

    Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses is designated to handle matters that may be referred in this case. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 636(c) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 73(b)(1) parties are notified that they may consent to proceed before a United States Magistrate Judge. Parties who wish to consent may access the necessary form at the following link: https://nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/AO-3.pdf. (sj)

  14. 2025-11-24

    CASE OPENING INITIAL ASSIGNMENT NOTICE: The above-entitled action is assigned to Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. Please download and review the Individual Practices of the assigned District Judge, located at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/judges/district-judges. Attorneys are responsible for providing courtesy copies to judges where their Individual Practices require such. Please download and review the ECF Rules and Instructions, located at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/rules/ecf-related-instructions..(sj)

  15. 2025-11-24

    Notice to Attorney Regarding Deficient AO 120/121 Form

  16. 2025-11-24

    Case Opening Initial Assignment Notice

  17. 2025-11-24

    Notice to Attorney Regarding Party Modification

  18. 2025-11-24

    Case Designation

  19. 2025-11-24

    Case Designated ECF

  20. 2025-11-24

    ***NOTICE TO ATTORNEY REGARDING PARTY MODIFICATION. Notice to attorney David Jenkins. The party information for the following party/parties has been modified: Celebrity Cruises, Inc., Royal Carribean Cruises, LTD, DOES 1-10. The information for the party/parties has been modified for the following reason/reasons: party name was entered in all caps; party text was omitted. (sj)

Docket history from CourtListener/RECAP — most recent first.

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View on CourtListener →Open in feed →Last updated 2026-09-04