Sconnie Nation comes out on top at the end of the ongoing Michael Kienitz v. Sconnie Nation, LLC, case with copyright infringements ruled out Monday regarding the infamous Mayor Paul Soglin T-shirt.
The case began two years ago when Kienitz argued that Sconnie Nation illegally printed a T-shirt featuring an altered photograph that Kienitz took at Soglin’s 2011 inauguration. The original photo was posted on the mayor’s public website, according to the 7th Circuit opinion.
The T-shirt features a silk screening of Soglin’s face from the photograph with a green tint and colorful wording strewn around the focal point reading, “Sorry for Partying.” The shirt was made to criticize the mayor’s decision to shut down the Mifflin Street Block Party, according to Sconnie Nation founder Troy Vosseller.
“It was just a timely shirt relevant to the 2012 Mifflin Street Block Party,” Vosseller said in an email.
Vosseller said Sconnie Nation sold 54 shirts with the image printed on them which led to Kienitz’s first accusation of copyright infringement. Kienitz lost the original case that he appealed in January, according to the 7th Circuit opinion.
The appeal was struck down because the photo was posted on the mayor’s public website where it can be viewed and downloaded for free after Kienitz licensed the photo to Soglin without compensation, according to the 7th Circuit opinion.
Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker also ruled the shirt was not an infringement because of the “transformative nature” of the work, according to Vosseller.
Vosseller said in an email he was “happy to be exonerated.” The lawsuit should not have any impact on the store, according to Vosseller.
“We look forward to continue making shirts that comment on aspects of popular culture and that celebrate the Wisconsin lifestyle,” Vosseller said in an email.
