St. Louis photographer sues “Project Runway” contestant

Another reality show has run afoul of a St. Louis photographer.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, Marcie Cobbaert claims that “Project Runway” contestant and designer Laura Kathleen Planck and Lifetime have used at least four of the fashion photographer’s photographs on the show’s website without licensing them. Lifetime airs the show.

The photos have appeared in the “Past Work Photos” section of Planck’s profile on the network’s website, the lawsuit claims.

Cobbaert, who holds the copyrights on the photos, “expressly objected” to their use to Planck and a Lifetime official in correspondence in May and June, says the lawsuit. The photographer, who is represented by Clayton firm Jensen Bartlett & Schelp, asks for up to $30,000 for each copyright infringement or up to $150,000 for each “willful” infringement.

Planck and Cobbaert’s attorney, Matthew Diehr, didn’t immediately return phone calls. An email to Lifetime’s parent company, A&E Television Networks, didn’t receive an immediate response.

Planck and her label, Laura Kathleen, are based in St. Louis. Cobbaert quit a corporate career in 2007 to focus on her St. Louis fashion photography, according to her website.

Cobbaert’s lawsuit follows that of prominent St. Louis photographer Michael Eastman, who sued in the same court over Bravo’s “Million Dollar Decorators” blowing up one of his most famous photographs for a mural featured on the show.

Cobbaert’s lawsuit is Marcie Cobbaert v. A&E Television Networks; Lifetime Entertainment Services; and Laura Kathleen Planck, 4:11cv-01329.