VSCO suing PicsArt over photo filters

Photo-editing app-maker VSCO  has filed a lawsuit against rival PicsArt, alleging PicsArt “reverse engineered” 19 VSCO filters and offered them as part of PicsArt’s Gold subscription package. The suit alleges 17 PicsArt employees created VSCO accounts to gain access to VSCO’s filters, then reverse-engineered them and offered them as part of the Gold subscription package.

VSCO’s suit alleges PicsArt “promotes its ‘Gold’ subscription service as providing users access to ‘exclusive’ content, including PicsArt filters.”

However, many of the filters that PicsArt claims to have “created” and has described as “our filters” or “new,” “unique,” “exclusive,” and “only for [PicsArt] Gold users” were, in fact, created by VSCO and made available through VSCO’s mobile app long before PicsArt misrepresented them as its “own.” That is, they were not “created” by PicsArt, are not “own[ed]” by PicsArt, and were neither “new” nor “unique” or “exclusive” to Gold users.

Further, VSCO alleges the 17 PicsArt employees violated the terms of service “in which users “agree not to sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit or create derivative works from any VSCO Content.”

The suit, embedded below (h/t TechCrunch)

In a statement posted at TechCrunch, PicsArt’s denial stated:

VSCO is not a direct competitor, but they clearly feel threatened by PicsArt. VSCO’s claims are meritless. It’s disappointing that they have made these false claims against us. PicsArt will vigorously defend itself against these baseless claims and all options are under consideration.

VSCO is asking “disgorgement of any proceeds obtained from PicsArt’s use of VSCO filters,” as well as injunctive relief, compensatory damages and “the costs of corrective advertising.”

You can read the full complaint below