OXFORD — A Texas-based author has filed a lawsuit against Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin copyright infringement based on a 2022 post on X, according to documents obtained by the Daily Journal.
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 6 in the Northern District of Mississippi‘s United States District Court, Dr. Keith Bell, a sports psychologist and author of Winning Isn’t Normal, claims a post from Kiffin on March 20, 2022 — a photo of a piece of paper headlined “WINNING ISN’T NORMAL” followed by several passages — infringes on Bell’s copyright of the works. The post, the suit claims, “is a nearly exact copy” of a copyrighted passage from Winning Isn’t Normal. Cease-and-desist letters from Bell were not complied with, the suit says. The suit claims Kiffin “committed this copyright infringement intentionally and in reckless disregard of the rights of Dr. Bell” and led to “unlawful distribution” of the passage.
The lawsuit also mentions Kiffin reposting the passage in 2016 and Bell’s subsequent sending of cease-and-desist letters, to which Kiffin “acknowledged receipt of” and then took the post down. The lawsuit states Bell is only claiming infringement for the 2022 post but that the earlier one “shows Kiffin’s access to the Copyrighted Works and his willfulness.”
Bell is asking for damages “in an amount to be determined at trial” and an injunction against Kiffin from using the copyrighted works, among other things.
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