LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The mother of an Oceanside teenage artist with autism filed suit today in federal court, alleging Target Corp. ripped off the boy's “sketch-style dot art” in designs for clothing and other kids merchandise sold under the Cat & Jack brand.
Kristen N. Cooley, in her capacity as guardian of the estate of Nolan Ocean Cooley, brought the lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court, alleging copyright infringement of 15 of her son's works, each entitled “Circle Happiness.”
Target Corp. said in a statement that design rights are of primary importance to the retailer.
“At Target, we have a deep appreciation and respect for design rights,” according to the statement. “We have not been formally served and therefore don't have anything to share by way of public comment at this time.”
The lawsuit alleges that Target had online access to the teen's copyrighted works years prior to launching its exclusive Cat & Jack line for young children in July 2016, and contacted the artist in the summer of 2018.
“This case involves one particular collection of Nolan's original works of art: his sketch-style dot art,” according to the complaint.
“The calling card of Nolan's original works in this collection is the unique manner in which he has designed, created, combined, arranged and colored imperfect, sketch-style dots that he hand-drew into idiosyncratic patterns.”
The suit seeks unspecified damages and attorneys' fees.
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