Gigi Hadid, Heroine of the Copyright Revolution?
The social media generation has been notoriously casual about photographic rights. Recently, however, luminaries like Ariana Grande, Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and supermodel Gigi Hadid have been sued for posting images of themselves online.
In Hadid’s case, paparazzi agency XClusive-Lee claimed the model violated its copyright when she cropped then shared a photo (with her more than 43 million Instagram followers) that had been taken of her by one of its photographers.
Hadid ultimately defeated the suit due to XClusive’s defective paperwork. But while this case is now history, the unprecedented issues left unresolved will inevitably be adjudicated in the near future.
Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, James Sammataro, co-head of Pryor Cashman’s Media + Entertainment Group, explores the legal intersection of a celebrity’s right to profit from the use of their own image and a photographer’s copyright in such images.
More About Pryor Cashman’s Media + Entertainment Group
For more than 50 years, Pryor Cashman has counseled entertainment industry clients on the complexities and legal challenges that arise when producing, financing, distributing, protecting and optimizing the value of creative content.
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