Steve King. (RI file photo)
A federal jury has ordered former Congressman Steve King’s campaign to pay $750 for using a copyrighted image in online fundraising.
The Florida mother who took the photo of her young son in 2007 sued King and his campaign a year and a half ago, seeking at least $75,000. She got a copyright for the image in 2012 as it became known as the “Success Kid” meme on social media.
The jury in Sioux City decided King’s campaign must pay Laney Griner the legally required minimum, $750, for using the boy’s image, but King owed the Griners nothing.
The Sioux City Journal reports Griner left the courtroom in tears. King had said the lawsuit was politically motivated and he told the newspaper he had been vindicated by the jury.
King had used the “Success Kid” meme to raise money for his unsuccessful campaign for a 10th term in the U.S. House. King lost to Randy Feenstra in a Republican Primary in 2020, more than a year after the House GOP Leader removed King from his House committee assignments for King’s comments about white supremacy. Feenstra was then elected to congress in November of 2020 and reelected to a second term in the U.S. House earlier this month.