A photographer is suing Jennifer Lopez for posting a photograph without permission on Instagram.
J-Lo and her production company Nuyorican Productions has been accused of copyright infringement by New York photographer Steve Sands, who seeks damages of up to $150,000 and lawyer’s fees.
Court documents cite that Lopez shared Sands’ image to “promote their brand” on Instagram without asking the photographer for permission to post or offering compensation.
Lopez posted the photograph on June 22, 2017, and it received over 656,000 likes.
“Defendants did not license the Photograph from Plaintiff for its Website, nor did Defendants have Plaintiff's permission or consent to publish the Photograph on its Website,” the lawsuit says, per E! News. Court documents state that Sands is “entitled to statutory damages up to $150,000 per work infringed.”
Sands filed the suit in Manhattan federal court. The photographer’s lawyer, Richard Liebowitz told the outlet, “This is an example of celebrities using photographers photographs without permission to brand themselves on social media. The number of likes the photograph receives coupled with their number of social media followers is a tool to commercialize their posts.”
In October 2019, J-Lo was also sued for $150,000 for a picture she shared of Alex Rodriguez on her Instagram Stories in 2017.
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