JLo sued for $150k after posting Instagram photo of HERSELF, here's a list of celebs who suffered the same fate
‘Let’s Get Loud’ singer Jennifer Lopez, who recently made headlines for her performing her rendition of Barbra Streisand's 'People' on the ‘One World: Together At Home’, is now in the news for all the wrong reasons. JLo and her production company Nuyorican Productions have been accused of copyright infringement by the New York photographer Steve Sands for a whopping $150,000, according to reports.
The lawsuit stated that JLo’s company used a photograph taken by Sands to promote their brand on Instagram, without seeking permission or paying compensation to the photographer. The picture, which was posted on June 22, 2017, has received over 656,000 likes on her official Instagram account, which has over 119 million followers. The image is a portrait of hers with the caption, #Harlee.
The lawsuit, which was filed against the singer in Manhattan federal court, states, "Defendants did not license the Photograph from Plaintiff for its Website, nor did Defendants have Plaintiff's permission or consent to publish the Photograph on its Website” and the photographer is "entitled to statutory damages up to $150,000 per work infringed." according to the documents as per the reports.
Earlier in October 2019, Jennifer was sued for $150,000 over a picture she shared on her Instagram handle with finance Alex Rodriguez. Meanwhile, similar to JLo, several celebrities have landed themselves in legal trouble for sharing pictures captured by paparazzi without their consent or any sort of compensation.
Ariana Grande
In May 2019, Ariana Grande was sued by a New-York based photographer Robert Barbera for using two of his pictures to promote her then album, ‘Sweetener’. The images showed the singer carrying a bag that had the title of the album.
The picture, which received over three million likes on Instagram, was allegedly registered with US Copyright office. The photographer demanded $25,000 in damages.
The lawsuit read, “[Grande] infringed [Barbera’s] copyright in the Photographs by reproducing and publicly displaying the Photographs on the Instagram Page,” the lawsuit states. “[Grande] is not, and has never been, licensed or otherwise authorized to reproduce, publicly display, distribute and/or use the Photographs,” as per Forbes report.
Gigi Hadid
The ‘Victoria’s Secret’ model Gigi Hadid faced a copyright infringement lawsuit for sharing a picture of herself on Instagram without the consent of the New York-based company, which owed the original copy. Although she deleted the picture eventually, it garnered over 1.6 million likes from the time when it was posted. The organization X-clusive Lee alleged that her intentions with posting the picture were “willful and intentional”.
Khloe Kardashian
Khloe Kardashian also had to also bear the heat of lawsuit when a UK based photo agency sued her for sharing an image licensed to the Daily Mail by Plaintiff, which showed her going to a restaurant with her sisters in Miami.
The lawsuit read, "Kardashian copied the Photograph and distributed it on Instagram on September 14, 2016. The copy of the Photograph that Kardashian distributed on Instagram had been altered to remove the CMI [copyright management information] showing plaintiff as the copyright owner of the image."
The company demanded over $25,000 for the said infringement, profits from the post and statutory damages.
Jessica Simpson
Reality television star Jessica Simpson faced legal issues similar to Khloe for sharing a series of pictures of herself on Instagram and Twitter, which was initially obtained by Splash and granted a license to the Daily Mail. In the pictures, Simpson was seen leaving the Bowery Hotel in New York, which were late shared by Reality T World.
Attorney Peter Perkowski who filed the lawsuit told in a statement, “The copy of the Photograph that Simpson distributed on Instagram had been altered, without authorization or approval, to remove the CMI showing plaintiff as the copyright owner of the image."