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Apple, photographer settle 'Retina' eyeball image lawsuit

The company and Swiss photographer Sabine Liewald settle a lawsuit involving the use of an eyeball image to promote the MacBook Pro.

Josh Lowensohn Former Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
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Josh Lowensohn
The image in question featured during Apple's WWDC keynote last June.
The image in question was featured during Apple's WWDC keynote last June. James Martin/CNET

Apple and Swiss photographer Sabine Liewald have settled a lawsuit involving the alleged misuse of an eyeball image used during one of Apple's keynote presentations.

News of the settlement came in a court-ordered dismissal dated last Wednesday. The two parties were scheduled to meet for a pretrial conference earlier today.

Terms were not disclosed, and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The original complaint said Apple misused one of Liewald's images (seen above) by including it in a promotion for its latest MacBook Pro computers with the Retina display. Liewald argued that Apple acquired the rights to use the image of a model's eye (complete with makeup) for "layout purposes only," as opposed to commercial use.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York last October, sought a trial by jury to determine damages and potential lost profits.

Court order embedded below:

show_temp by JoshLowensohn