His Instagram feed is filled with pictures of partially naked men in homoerotic settings and situations. Stokes has not previously shied away from celebrating the male body. It adds that 'photographing veterans in partial uniform is controversial and within the armed forces community is often frowned upon.' Stokes 'also tempered the use of models partially nude in uniform - when photographing his veteran subjects,' the lawsuit reads. “The general public familiar with the plaintiff’s work may assume that this image is a veteran of war, and that the licensed the image to an entity that makes profit from liquor sales,” the lawsuit states.īronson is not an active or former member of the military, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims Stokes has grown “more selective in the use of his photos since he now works extensively portraying injured British and American veterans of war.” That more recent post no longer appears on the Menjos Facebook page. The lawsuit was initiated after Menjos used the photo a second time in a more recent Facebook promotion for a July 4 event, the paper reports. The first alleged unauthorized use came in 2017 for a Military Might Night promotion with “shot rations specials.”
The lawsuit claims the photo was used twice without permission. The photo, taken in 2013, was registered with the U.S.
