McCormick denies copying tiny-figures food photos in Big Appetites copyright case

California-based fine art photographer Laurie McCormick is fighting a copyright lawsuit brought by Christopher Boffoli over images of tiny figures staged with food, arguing that a disputed papaya photograph was her own work and that any similarities involve ideas Boffoli cannot exclusively claim.

“Defendant’s Papaya Trap image was independently created by Defendant without reference to, copying of, or reliance upon Plaintiff’s Papaya Golf photograph or any other work in Plaintiff’s ‘Big Appetites’ series,” McCormick said in a May 7 answer to Boffoli’s amended complaint obtained by Urgent Matter.

McCormick said Boffoli could not show she had seen Papaya Golf or any other Big Appetites work before creating her image. She argued Boffoli cannot control the broad idea of photographing miniature figures with food, even if both artists used similar subject matter.

“Any alleged similarities are limited to unprotectable ideas, concepts, themes, subject matter, or general artistic style—including the use of miniature figures, food as a setting, and recreational activities—none of which are protected by copyright,” McCormick said.

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Court Documents: Christopher Boffoli Big Appetites cases

Read court documents from Christopher Boffoli’s copyright cases over Big Appetites, including records involving Laurie McCormick and Flickr.

Urgent MatterAdam Schrader

By the time McCormick filed her answer, part of the case had been thrown out. She said she was only responding to the remaining claims, not the dismissed ones involving another work titled Banana Racers. She asked the judge to end the rest of the case, rule in her favor, and make Boffoli pay her attorney fees and costs.

Boffoli’s amended complaint, filed September 9 in federal court in San Diego, describes him as a fine art, editorial and commercial photographer who created Big Appetites, “a series of photographs featuring tiny figures photographed against real food backdrops.”

He said Big Appetites has been published in more than 100 countries and featured by the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR and CBS This Morning, among others. He said both Papaya Golf and Banana Racers were covered by copyright registrations.

The amended complaint said Boffoli discovered in January 2025 that McCormick was displaying allegedly infringing images on website pages for Papaya Trap and her artwork The Big Banana. Screenshots attached to the complaint show both works listed for sale at $250 each.

Boffoli’s amended complaint said McCormick’s Papaya Trap image “copies the essential creative elements” of his Papaya Golf, including “the concept of miniature figures playing golf on a halved papaya using the black seeds as obstacles.”

The amended complaint also said McCormick’s The Big Banana image “copies the core creative elements” of Boffoli’s Banana Racers, by showing miniature figures riding bicycles on yellow bananas.

“Both of McCormick’s images replicate Boffoli’s distinctive artistic concept of placing miniature human figures in recreational activities on oversized food items, using nearly identical compositions and subject matter,” Boffoli said in the amended complaint.

An exhibit attached to the amended complaint places the works side by side. It labels Boffoli’s images “Registered originals” and McCormick’s images “Plagiarized Infringements.”

Boffoli said the Big Appetites photographs, including Papaya Golf and Banana Racers, had been widely available since at least 2013 through his website, major publications, galleries and licensed publications worldwide.

“These specific photographs were publicly accessible prior to McCormick’s creation and display of her infringing versions,” Boffoli said in the amended complaint.

McCormick said in her counter-notice text that her own Miniature Appetite series began in 2011, after earlier miniature series in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Screenshots of her website provided by Boffoli showed that her Miniature Appetite series was “born in December 2013.”

Before suing, Boffoli took the dispute to Amazon Web Services, according to emails attached to the amended complaint. The complaint said McCormick’s site was hosted on AWS servers.

In a January 16, 2025, notice to AWS, Boffoli said he owned the Big Appetites series and that his work was not in the public domain.

“I’m writing because I was recently disheartened to discover a photographer, with a website apparently hosted on your servers at 13.248.243.5, who has published and seems to be selling prints that tread on my intellectual property,” Boffoli wrote in the notice.

Boffoli told AWS that other photographers were welcome to make their own images “in the same genre of scale juxtaposition,” but said McCormick’s work went too far.

“This plagiarist seems a bit too comfortable creating photographs that are very close in composition and content to my registered copyrighted images,” Boffoli wrote. “She is even shameless in calling her images ‘Little Appetites.’”

AWS told Boffoli on March 12, 2025, that it had completed an initial review and removed or disabled access to the material.

“We take reports of copyright infringement very seriously,” AWS wrote. “We’ve taken appropriate action in response to your complaint to remove or disable access to the material and to notify the user who posted the material of your complaint.”

McCormick then sent AWS a response disputing the removal, according to the amended complaint.

“My Miniature Appetite photographic series was created back in 2011, after I broke my ankle, had surgery, gained weight and since I collected miniatures all my life, I started to use them in a new photography series: Miniature Appetite,” McCormick wrote in the notice forwarded by AWS.

McCormick said she had made earlier miniature series before the food works.

“Prior to this series that is being questioned, I had created 3 prior Miniature Series in 2008, 2009 and 2010,” McCormick wrote. “This work was removed from my Website by a false accusation in 2025 that I copied another individual’s work.”

McCormick said she had not seen Boffoli’s website until GoDaddy sent it to her the previous month.

“All images on my website are my original work-every one of my image creations is created 100% by my own talents and ideas,” McCormick wrote.

AWS told Boffoli on April 17, 2025, that it had received McCormick’s response and would allow the material to be accessible again unless Boffoli provided “notice that a United States district court lawsuit has been filed.”

“Received. Thank you,” Boffoli replied to AWS on April 24, 2025. “We are drafting the complaint and will loop back when it is filed.”

Boffoli sued McCormick in June 2025 and filed the amended complaint in September.

U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino granted part of McCormick’s request to dismiss the amended complaint and denied part of it in April 2026, according to the court docket. McCormick then asked the court on May 5 to revisit the part of the order that let Boffoli’s claims over the Papaya Golf and Papaya Trap images continue.

McCormick said in her answer that she filed the document “as a precautionary measure” while that request was pending.

The docket shows Boffoli opposed McCormick’s request on May 27. The next court meeting, meant to address possible settlement and scheduling, is set for July 15 before Magistrate Judge Valerie E. Torres.

The McCormick case is one of at least three recent federal copyright cases Boffoli has brought in California over Big Appetites.

Boffoli sued Flickr in November 2024 in the Northern District of California, alleging that the photo-sharing platform hosted user-posted copies of his work and failed to remove them after he sent takedown notices.

“The Infringing Content hosted by Flickr contained eighteen photos from Big Appetites without license or permission from Boffoli,” Boffoli said in the Flickr complaint.

Boffoli said he sent takedown notices to Flickr on September 28 and October 3, 2024. He said Flickr had not removed or disabled access to the material as of November 12, 2024.

“Flickr directly infringed Boffoli’s copyrights by continuing to allow public access to the Infringing Content on Flickr’s servers, despite having actual knowledge of the Infringing Content,” Boffoli said in the complaint.

Flickr denied Boffoli’s claims and brought its own claim against him, according to the docket. The case settled after mediation December 8, 2025.

The parties later asked the court to dismiss “all claims and counterclaims,” and the case was closed Dec. 18, according to the docket and dismissal document. The dismissal did not award attorney fees or costs to either side.

Boffoli also sued John Straub in July 2025 in the Central District of California, alleging that Straub displayed allegedly infringing images on John Straub Image Works and My Teeny Life.

The complaint said Boffoli also believed Straub displayed and sold copies “at art fairs and exhibitions.”

Boffoli said he sent Straub letters on April 7 and May 16, first asking him to stop and later offering to settle.

“Despite Boffoli’s attempts at resolution, Straub did not cease displaying or selling the Infringing Content on his website or, on information and belief, at art fairs and exhibitions,” Boffoli said in the complaint.

That case also settled, according to a November 18 order by U.S. District Judge James V. Selna. The order said the court had been advised “that the above-entitled action has been settled” and dismissed the case, while giving the parties 30 days to ask to reopen it if the settlement was not completed.

The uploaded documents do not show that a court found Flickr or Straub liable for infringement. The McCormick case remains active.

Follow along with other lawsuits at Urgent Matter's art lawsuit tracker.