Jennifer Lopez Sued For $150,000 Over Posting An Instagram Photo, Photographer Claims Copyright Infringement
Jennifer Lopez is being sued for $150,000 for posting an Instagram photo, one which may not have been legal for her to share.
New York photographer Steve Sands accused Lopez and her production company, Nuyorican Productions, of copyright infringement, stating that Lopez posted a picture to her Instagram without compensating him.
The image is a portrait of herself wearing a white button-up shirt while staring into the camera. Lopez simply captioned the photo “#Harlee.”
Court documents claim that Lopez posted the photo to “promote their brand.” The photographer is “entitled to statutory damages up to $150,000 per work infringed,” reports E! News.
“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,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit was filed by attorney Richard Liebowitz in Manhattan federal court. Liebowitz told E! News that this case is an example of stars using photographers’ photos without their consent, doing so to promote themselves or their brands on social media.
He also stated that the number of likes the picture receives, combined with the number of social media followers, is a way to commercialize posts — a method often employed by celebrities.
The photo of Lopez, which was posted on June 22, 2017, has gained over 656,000 likes. The singer has more than 119 million Instagram followers.
Some fans have left comments on the photo in question since the news about the lawsuit first broke. Many supporters left positive comments for the singer, praising her beauty and telling her not to be concerned.
“It’s ok mi amor, nothing to worry about,just worry about keeping your family safe,” wrote one user.
“Regardless of who is right or wrong in this scenario, it’s not like she can’t afford it. Beautiful! Just beautiful,” wrote another follower.
This isn’t the first time Lopez has faced allegations of posting Instagram photos without compensating the photographers.
Back in October of 2019, the singer posted a photo of fiancé Alex Rodriguez to her Instagram story. As a result, a lawsuit was filed by Splash News and Picture Agency, accusing Lopez of two counts of copyright infringement for posting the Splash News photo of her and Rodriguez holding hands, reports USA Today.
Previously, Lopez was sued by photographer Michael Stewart for posting an Instagram photo without compensation. According to TMZ, the photographer took the picture of Lopez back in June of 2018.
Lopez and her representatives have not yet commented on the latest lawsuit.
