A lawsuit alleging copyright and trademark infringement has been filed against an unlikely defendant: Nevada Federal Credit Union.
The Las Vegas-based credit union, with more than 80,000 members and $677 million in loans and other assets, was sued Monday in federal court in Minnesota by a company called ChartHouse International Learning Corp. of Burnsville, Minn.
ChartHouse sells films and books about its "FISH! Philosophy," described as a set of training and motivational tools to improve work cultures.
The FISH! system helps businesses develop more connected teams, better communication and extraordinary service, the company says.
Nevada Federal Credit Union and an official there, James Vanderlip, are accused in the lawsuit of purchasing an authorized copy of a FISH! film for $908 in 2007 and then making bootleg copies of the DVD and selling them.
The film is called "FISH! – Catch the energy, release the potential" and features Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market.
The lawsuit indicates efforts to resolve the dispute were made before the lawsuit was filed.
Contacted before the lawsuit was filed, Vanderlip told ChartHouse that he, too, was a copyright infringement victim as he had purchased and re-sold what he thought were authentic DVDs.
"I respect and share your stance on copyright infringements," Vanderlip told the company in an email. "I purchased these DVDs a few years ago in Atlanta from what I thought was ChartHouse. The people who ran the sales booth did have a ChartHouse table skirt around their table and seemed very reputable. They were conducting business outside the Atlanta Conference Center next to the CNN Center."
ChartHouse, however, charged in the lawsuit that Vanderlip’s story is "unreasonable" and that Nevada Federal Credit Union "did not conduct a reasonable investigation into the claims or challenge Vanderlip’s story."
Greg Barnes, senior vice president for marketing at the credit union, on Wednesday denied the allegations the credit union is responsible for pirated copies of the film being sold by means including eBay.
"We are aware of the lawsuit. We adamantly deny the accusations and have retained appropriate legal counsel for our defense. Nevada Federal does not, has not, nor ever will knowingly violate trademark or copyright laws, period,” Barnes said.
The suit seeks an injunction barring the defendants from violating copyright laws and infringing on ChartHouse’s trademarks; along with unspecified damages.
Separately at Nevada Federal Credit Union, the union this month announced plans to convert to a state charter, which must be ratified by a vote of its members.
A state charter will allow the credit union to serve all of Washoe and Nye counties, while continuing to serve all of Clark County.
The credit union said the change would give it immediate access to 300,000 additional potential members and would allow services in more counties in the future.
If the change is approved, Nevada Federal would remain federally insured but would need to change its name.