Plaintiff Claims Lands’ End Still Using Web Content Illegally

A federal lawsuit filed last year against Lands’ End was amended Friday after the plaintiff, Empowerment Enterprises LLC, alleged that violations identified in the original complaint continued.

The amended complaint states that Lands’ End continues to use content on its Web site copied from a book written by Empowerment Enterprises president and founder Sherry Maysonave, despite representations from Lands’ End that it would be removed.

“We had entered into discussion and it had been represented to us that all of the material that was lifted from Sherry’s work would be removed from their Web site and that is not the case,” said Tommy Jacks, a lawyer for Empowerment Enterprises, which offers a variety of products for business and personal communications and image. “Finally we just felt that we had no choice but to go forward with the case. We had hoped that we could work something out with Lands’ End and we’ve been unable to.”

A spokesperson for Land’s End declined comment.

The complaint also states that Maysonave had not been compensated for consulting services after receiving an unsolicited overture from Lands’ End in 1999 to work as a consultant to the company on business casual clothing and to provide content for the Web site, among other arrangements.

The lawsuit, filed Sept. 4, 2001 in the U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, claimed that Dodgeville, WI-based Lands’ End had violated intellectual property law and copyright infringement by using copied passages from Maysonave’s book