IP Law Daily, COPYRIGHT—N.D. Ohio: Nonprofit’s founder adequately pleads that resignation terminated copyright, trademark licenses, (Mar 13, 2026)

By Nadine E. Roddy, J.D.

The nonprofit organization allegedly infringed by continuing to use the same name, logo, and copyrighted works after the founder’s resignation.

The founder and former President/CEO of a nonprofit organization, who resigned after several years of running the organization, sufficiently stated federal and state law claims of copyright and trademark infringement, a federal district court in Ohio has ruled. The complaint adequately alleged copyright infringement with respect to all of the asserted copyrighted works, as well as trademark infringement, after the founder “terminated” the organization’s license to use the marks and works by resigning (Farmer v. Birthing Beautiful Communities, No. 1:25-cv-00005-BMB (N.D. Ohio Mar. 12, 2026)).

The founder and former President/CEO (founder) of a nonprofit organization that provided doula services and perinatal support for low-income women sued against the organization, asserting claims of copyright and trademark infringement under federal and state law. According to the Fourth Amended Complaint (FAC), the plaintiff founded the organization in 2015. Prior to this time, she had created a “perinatal support pipeline program” as well as other materials related to the doula services she was providing by herself. In early 2015, she used social media to recruit other doulas who were interested in providing services to pregnant women referred through local hospitals. In April 2015 she began using the name “Birthing Beautiful Communities” (BBC) for the group.

Shortly thereafter, the founder formalized her effort into a fully operating nonprofit. First, she registered “Birthing Beautiful Communities” as a trade name with the Ohio Secretary of State, identifying herself as the registrant. She then commissioned a logo for BBC. She filed articles of incorporation with the Ohio Secretary of State to form BBC as a nonprofit with herself as the sole incorporator. As the registrant of the name “Birthing Beautiful Communities,” she also provided consent to BBC to use that trade name. In 2019, she applied for and received registration certificates from the Copyright Office for several works (the “Copyrighted Work”) that she had first published on June 1, 2014.

The founder served as President and CEO of BBC until March 2021, when she resigned from the organization. In her resignation notice, she communicated certain proposed terms of her departure, including a licensing agreement for certain “models” she had created before the inception of BBC—presumably, the trademarked and copyrighted works. She also drafted a letter of understanding requiring her to “grant” BBC a license to use the copyrighted works. The parties never signed the letter of understanding or formalized any agreement. The organization continued to use the trade name, the logo, and the works.

The founder asserted four claims: (1) copyright infringement under the Copyright Act; (2) trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanhan Act; (3) trademark infringement and unfair competition under Ohio common law; and (4) deceptive trade practices under Ohio Revised Code § 4165.02. BBC filed a motion to dismiss all claims.

Copyright claim. The court noted that to establish copyright infringement, two elements must be proven: (1) ownership of a valid copyright; and (2) copying of constituent elements of the work that are original. BBC argued that, although the asserted works might qualify as a protected compilation under the Copyright Act, the FAC pleaded infringement with respect to only one of the works in the compilation—the Perinatal Support Pipeline. The founder contended that the copyright registration was not a compilation, but rather a single work covering six topics. Siding with the plaintiff, the court determined that the FAC adequately pled copyright infringement with respect to the entire set of works. To be sure, the FAC highlighted the alleged improper use of the Perinatal Support Pipeline, but it also alleged improper use of the other items listed in the copyright registration.

Trademark claim. The court noted that the FAC alleged that on or around April 12, 2015, the founder began using the name “Birthing Beautiful Communities.” On July 16, 2015, the Ohio Secretary of State issued a trade name registration to the plaintiff. On October 6, 2015, she commissioned the asserted logo. The FAC alleged that she “provided her consent” to BBC to use the trade name and the logo, and she terminated that consent by her resignation in April 2021. Thus, BBC had been infringing on her trademark since that time. The court found these allegations sufficient to state a Lanham Act claim.

State-law claims. Because the Ohio courts interpreted the state’s relevant statutory and common law provisions in the same manner as the federal courts interpreted the Copyright and the Lanham Acts, the court held that the state-law claims were also sufficiently stated.

The Case is No. 1:25-cv-00005-BMB.

Judge: Brennan, B.

Attorneys: Angela R. Gott (Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff) for Christin Farmer. Dustin D. Likens (Calfee Halter & Griswold) for Birthing Beautiful Communities.

Companies: Birthing Beautiful Communities

Cases: Copyright Trademark OhioNews