Complaint Against Lamb for Copyright Violation

CATHEDRAL CITY —  Alan Carvalho on Tuesday filed a copyright complaint with YouTube alleging that Rita Lamb’s campaign attempted to use his personal video for her campaign.

Carvalho, a prolific visual storyteller in this community, said Lamb’s use of his video footage in her campaign is a violation of his personal intellectual property. He said this footage was being used without his permission —a blatant copyright infringement.

Lamb is challenging Carvalho’s husband, Shelley Kapan, for the District 1 seat in the upcoming August special election.

“Yesterday I was viewing the recent video from the Rita Lamb campaign,” Carvalho told Uken Report. “I was shocked and upset that in that video, a video segment of my video material was used without my permission. I immediately expressed my concerns on the Rita Lamb YouTube page, making it clear that I was filing a legal complaint against her campaign with YouTube, showing evidence that the video used was indeed my intellectual property and thereby an unlawful copyright infringement.
Within 24 hours of my filing (my complaint) with YouTube, I was notified this morning at 12:40 a.m. that the video footage in violation was indeed removed.”

Uken Report has independently corroborated Carvalho’s complaint and that the video in question has been removed.

As a response to Lamb’s alleged theft of his copyrighted material, Carvalho created a new video. You may view it here:

On Rita Lamb for Cathedral City Council Facebook page, Valerie Schechter also lodged a complaint. She said, “My image is being used in this video without my permission! I am not a public figure and do not consent to the use of this. I believe it is Alan Carvalho’s footage at the food truck . Please remove my image. Thank you. I am not endorsing Rita Lamb in this election.”

The person in charge of the Facebook page responds, “We are investigating the source of all images used and remove them as necessary.”

Carvalho told Uken Report the video editing company the Lamb Campaign hired is also in violation of using his intellectual property without his permission on its video.

“I have filed a formal complaint with the FCC and the FPPC regarding the YouTube ruling in my favor that shows copyright infringements had been proven,” Carvalho said.

It is the latest in a campaign that is rapidly becoming intense. Some of Kaplan’s campaign signs have been stolen and destroyed. Lamb says some of hers were, too.

Kaplan has issued Lamb a “Democracy Challenge” inviting her to participate in a public forum.