Sharing paparazzi photos on Instagram.
Celebrities are rarely allowed to be at peace and have long been accustomed to being followed by avid paparazzi photographers.
However, from time to time someone sees the frequent photography as an opportunity to find the perfect Insta photo.
This is exactly what has made celebrities like Gigi Hadid get in trouble in the past. She was sued by a paparazzi photographer in 2019, for violating copyright law when she reposted a photo he had taken of her.
The 26-year-old is hardly the only one who has ended up in this situation.
Dua Lipa and Emily Ratajkowski are among the latest celebrities who are now being sued for sharing paparazzi photos of themselves.
The celebrities are being sued for sharing photos of themselves
Dua Lipa is now being sued for sharing a paparazzi photo of herself in 2019. Photo: Instagram @dualipa
The Fashion Law writes that the photo agency Integral Images is now suing Dua Lipa for posting a photo of herself at the airport in 2019, without crediting the photo or asking for permission. The image has now been deleted.
The agency believes that the artist deliberately posted the photo without their permission. They also claim that she potentially earned from the photo by increasing her number of followers, who in turn could be led to consume and buy products through her Instagram profile.
Integral Images now demands that the negative effects of image sharing are revealed. If not, they ask for 150,000 dollars, which is equivalent to just over one million Norwegian kroner, in statutory damages.
Emily Ratajkowski is also being sued.
The Fashion Law further writes that photographer Javier Mateo sued the model last week. He claims that he owns three of the photos the 30-year-old "actively copied, saved and displayed" on her Instagram account without his permission.
Mateo believes that it compromises his ability to resell the pictures when Ratajkowski posts the images without permission.
He also asks for financial compensation or a temporary injunction. That is, a kind of temporary security to prevent the model from using his pictures.
Emily Ratajkowski has been sued several times for sharing photos of herself.
This is not the first time the model has been sued for sharing photos of herself.
In 2019, she was sued by photographer Robert O’Neil for sharing a photo he took of her on her Instagram story. In the picture, it is clear that the model is hiding her face with a bouquet of flowers.
The 30-year-old's lawyer nevertheless claimed that she had not done anything wrong in sharing the photo, because it acquired a new meaning when she added the text "mood forever”, which referred to constantly being photographed without consent.
It was thus used as an argument that the image was not commercial and that the model in no way earned anything on the post.
This case is currently before the court.
Celebrities are being sued for sharing photos of themselves
Emily Ratajkowski was sued for sharing this paparazzi photo of herself.
In 2020, Emily Ratajkowski wrote an article published in The Cut about this, called Buying Myself Back - When does a model own her own image?.
In the article, she describes, among other things, her relationship with paparazzi photographers. She also tells how surreal it is to be sued for sharing a picture that is meant to illustrate this.
There are many such examples in the celebrity world.
It may sound strange to be sued for sharing photos of yourself, but well, it actually happens surprisingly often.
In 2018, the Daily Mail wrote that the photo agency Xposure Photos sued Khloé Kardashian for 175,000 dollars, equivalent to about 1.5 million kroner, in 2017. Khloé had posted a photo of herself on her way to a restaurant in Miami on Instagram in 2016, without crediting the image.
The image agency also demanded 25,000 dollars, approximately 224,000 kroner, to change or remove copyright information.
Nevertheless, the photo agency ended up dropping the case.
Celebrities are being sued for sharing photos of themselves
In 2017, the photo agency Xposure Photos sued Khloe for posting a photo of herself on Instagram.
According to USA Today, celebrities such as Liam Hemsworth, Jennifer Lopez and Ariana Grande have also been sued for sharing paparazzi photos of themselves.