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11 September 2017Copyright

Gigi Hadid faces legal action over Instagram post

Fashion model Gigi Hadid is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit for allegedly posting a picture of herself on Instagram that belonged to a photographer.

The July 2016 post by the model, wearing a customised Adidas jacket, has received over 1.2 million ‘likes’ on Instagram.

Filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday, September 5, freelance photographer Peter Cepeda sued both Hadid and her agency IMG Worldwide for “wilful and intentional” infringement.

Cepeda stated that he had captured the image using “great technical skill and careful timing”, and licensed it to various outlets, including for an article in the Daily Mail and a story on the entertainment news website TMZ.

He accused the defendants of then “copying and uploading the copyrighted photograph to Hadid’s Instagram account”.

Cepeda added that he had received a receipt (case number 1-5776412659) for his copyright registration application for the photograph from the US Copyright Office.

The photographer is seeking an injunction against both Hadid and her agency, a transfer of profits, actual and/or statutory damages, and a jury trial.

Disputes between photographers and celebrities use of their works on social media has resulted in a number of copyright infringement lawsuits.

As reported by WIPR, US President Donald Trump has been sued twice for copyright infringement relating to the use of a photograph on social media.

In June, a photo which Trump posted online of four women wearing t-shirts spelling out Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ election slogan ended up at the centre of a copyright infringement case.

Julie Dermansky, the individual who took the photo, was seeking $150,000 in damages.

Trump was also sued in October last year over a picture of bowl of skittles, originally post by Trump Jr, the president’s son.

Trump Jr had  tweeted the image with a message that read: “If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.”

That case was voluntarily dismissed by the photographer in November 2016.

WIPR also reported on the infamous ‘monkey selfie’ case—a dispute over who owns the copyright if an animal takes a selfie of itself.

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5 January 2018   A photograph agency has hit fashion model Sofia Richie with a copyright claim after she posted images of herself on Instagram.
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29 January 2019   Gigi Hadid is at the centre of a copyright infringement suit for allegedly posting a copyright-protected photograph of herself to her Instagram account.