First suit filed against Fenty Corp. for posting other pictures on its Instagram account.
Following the recent news of Virgil Abloh being sued for copyright infringement over posting a photo of Bella Hadid on Instagram, Rihanna‘s FENTY has now reportedly been subject to the same. A photographer has filed a lawsuit against Rihanna’s Fenty brand after it posted a snapshot of supermodel Gigi Hadid.
The problem, according to the New York-based professional photography company? Fenty didn’t have permission to post the picture. The Maison is being sued for using Gigi Hadid‘s photo on its Instagram story without permission or consent.
In the photo, Hadid wore a corset dark denim top from Fenty’s collection that partnered with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton earlier this year. The company shared the picture in its Instagram story. It didn’t take long for Eva’s Photography to spot the photo and sue, claiming that Fenty didn’t have rights and permission to share the picture.
As per The Fashion Law, Eva’s Photography, Inc. filed the lawsuit on 1st October, claiming that “it has at all times been the sole owner of all right, title and interest in and to the photograph.” The complaint also states that the fashion label used the photograph “as a tool to promote its brand” yet did not get “permission or consent to publish the photo” from Eva’s Photography. Considering this, Eva’s Photography is suing for $150,000, claiming that Fenty committed copyright infringement.
It is interesting that this case runs around a photo of Gigi Hadid, as TFL notes that the model herself has been embroiled in almost three similar copyright lawsuits. She and her sister Bella Hadid have been sued a handful of times for posting pictures of themselves that photographers claim they own. Gigi Hadid may have a big collection of more than 300 pairs of sunglasses and access to some of the most beautiful and exclusive real estate gems in the world, but she certainly doesn’t have the permission to post pictures of herself without first getting permission to use them, if they’re copyrighted and owned by independent agencies. One of them is from last January, recently went in her favor after Hadid’s team argued that posting photo by her was “fair use” (rather than infringement). They explained that Hadid was responsible for the “creative and copyrightable factors in the photo.” Additionally, they argued that posting photo by here they didn’t actually attempt to exploit it commercially. One lawsuit against Gigi is still pending after she posted a photo of her now ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik in her Instagram story. That company wants $150,000 from Gigi.
Fenty isn’t the only brand that has jump into this problem. Many other brands, including Marc Jacobs, have found themselves in similar situations in the past year after posting paparazzi photos of celebrities wearing their clothes.
Rihanna, Gigi, nor FENTY’s representatives have released any official comments at the moment. It seems like a lot to ask for a photo that was only on Instagram Stories for a single day.
Do you think Fenty should get sued for posting the photo? Talk to us in the comment box!
