Jay-Z will be seeing hip-hop photographer Jonathan Mannion in court after filing a lawsuit for profiting off his likeness without permission.
The news of the lawsuit broke on Tuesday, 15 June 2021, with confirmed court documents revealing that Mannion, who shot the cover of Jay-Z’s debut album, “Reasonable Doubt”, has been accused of ‘exploiting’ the rapper’s name and image without consent.
Additionally, Mannion was said to have used images of the rapper on his website while also allegedly selling prints of Jay-Z for thousands of dollars, also without consent.
The lawsuit reads: “Jay-Z never gave Mannion permission to resell any of the images nor did Jay-Z authorize Mannion to use his name, likeness, identity, or persona for any purpose.”
Shawn Carter, popularly known as Jay-Z, also asked that Mannion stop using his name and likeness immediately.
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According to the court documents, the rapper also wants “compensatory damages, lost profits, consequential damages, and/or disgorgement of Mannion’s profits.”
The lawsuit also claimed that Mannion’s use of Jay-Z’s likeness violates the star’s common law privacy rights. It states that it is “ironic that a photographer would treat the image of a formerly-unknown Black teenager, now wildly successful, as a piece of property to be squeezed for every dollar it can produce. It stops today.”
Mannion’s through his legal aid, Sara Hsia, responded in a statement regarding the lawsuit saying:
“Mr. Mannion has created iconic images of Mr. Carter over the years, and is proud that these images have helped to define the artist that Jay-Z is today. Mr. Mannion has the utmost respect for Mr. Carter and his body of work and expects that Mr. Carter would similarly respect the rights of artists and creators who have helped him achieve the heights to which he has ascended.
“We are confident that the First Amendment protects Mr. Mannion’s right to sell fine art prints of his copyrighted works, and will review the complaint and respond in due course.”
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Interesting
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Eyes dey red oh.