Back in January, Jennifer Lopez saw some particularly drop-dead gorgeous pics of her snapped by a paparazzi outside a Golden Globes pre-party. As any astrological Leo would, she decided to post them to her socials. The only issue? She allegedly didn’t pay for the photo rights, and now, she’s found herself in the middle of a legal copyright debacle.
On May 17, the “On The Floor” singer was hit with a couple of lawsuits from photographer Edwin Blanco and the photo agency BackGrid USA. In the lawsuits, the parties claim that they co-own two images of the mega-star that were snapped as she stood outside the Bar Marmont in Los Angeles for the Amazon MGM Studios and Vanity Fair Party.
For the event, Lopez was wearing a white faux fur coat and a gorgeous white silk dress. A lawyer for Blanco and BackGrid USA claims that Lopez shared the two images to Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) on January 5 without permission. They allege that this kicked off fan pages and fashion brands — including the brand of the faux fur coat — resharing the images.
“Ms. Lopez’s unauthorised use of the Images is commercial in nature, intended for the purpose of self-promotion,” wrote attorney Peter Perkowski, per Billboard.
“For example, Ms. Lopez used the images to spotlight the designer of her clothing and jewellery, leveraging the publicity from the event to promote her fashion affiliations and brand partnerships.”
Lawyers reportedly contacted Lopez’s team over the alleged copyright infringement and brought up another copyright incident in 2019 when J-Lo was sued for sharing another pap pic with her then partner, Alex Rodriguez, to her IG. This case was also led by Perkowski and was dismissed in 2020.
“This prior litigation placed Ms. Lopez on notice regarding the legal requirements and potential consequences associated with the use of copyrighted images without proper authorisation,” Perkowski said.
“Despite this, Ms. Lopez has continued to engage in similar conduct, demonstrating a willful disregard for BackGrid’s copyrights through a pattern of behaviour that undermines the rights of content creators.”
J-Lo and her team have not made a statement about the allegations.
In the United States and in Australia, celebrities don’t own or co-own images in which they’re the subject. As per the Copyright Act 1968, only authors and other copyright owners of the original works have the right to “reproduce, publish, communicate, and adapt their material”. This also includes licensing, transferring or selling it to other people.
In Australia, these rules generally apply for the lifetime of the photographer plus 70 years.
So, if you find yourself the subject of a hot pap pic, make sure to think about the copyright implications before posting it to your IG grid — no matter how tempting it might be.
