Louis Sahuc was a New Orleans-based photographer and gallerist. On a foggy morning in 1999, he captured Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral in a photograph titled Decatur Street Gate. Lee Tucker is another New Orleans-based artist, who became familiar with Decatur Street Gate after seeing the photograph at Sahuc’s gallery and purchasing a poster with the image. In 2001, Tucker photographed the same scene; however, in Tucker’s Breaking Mist, puddles are visible at the bottom of the image, and the framing accentuates different aspects of the scene. Neither the validity of Sahuc’s copyright in Decatur Street Gate, nor Tucker’s access to the image were at issue; liability turned solely on whether there was substantial similarity of expression between the copyrightable elements of Decatur Street Gate and Breaking Mist. Both photographs express the idea of Jackson Square in foggy light, the idea itself is not copyrightable. Laid side-by-side, it becomes evident the images are composed differently, emphasizing different elements of the location. Breaking Mist is also in color, while Decatur Street Gate was photographed in black-and-white. Overall, the district court determined that the works have different artistic expressions. Thus, the district court concluded Tucker’s work was not substantially similar to that of Sahuc. Sahuc appealed and the Fifth Circuit affirmed that the works were not substantially similar in an unpublished decision.