Who Owns the Photos from a Photoshoot?
Jennifer Lopez sued in copyright case for posting photos of herself
Jennifer Lopez was sued for posting paparazzi photos of herself on social media without permission from the photographers who took them. The photographers, Edwin Blanco and Backgrid agency, said they owned the rights to the photos even though Lopez was the subject of the photographs.
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| Lopez attended a Vanity Fair and Amazon MGM Studios party the night before the Golden Globes |
The photographers claim that Lopez did not have the right to post those photos online. Even though the subject of the photograph is JLo herself, the copyright in the photograph is held by the photographer or agency, not her—so posting the photos without permission can break copyright law.
This case highlights a key principle in copyright law: while individuals have rights to their own likeness (portrait rights), the actual copyright of a photograph belongs to the photographer who created it. The photographers argued that Lopez's use of their images without permission on her social media platforms violated copyright law.
Some reports said the photographers wanted up to $150,000 per photo. They claimed that Lopez used the images for commercial or self-promotional purposes.
This case is important because it highlights the complex relationship between personal image rights and copyright law in the digital age. The case shows how copyright law basically protects the creator of content rather than the subject, which is why many people struggle to understand that celebrities cannot freely post images of themselves taken by paparazzi without permission.
It's especially important in our social media era, where sharing and reposting images has become very common. This case is a good reminder that copyright protections apply to all photographs, no matter who appears in them.
Youngs, I. (2025, May 20). Jennifer Lopez sued for posting paparazzi photos of herself., BBC Website https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2qqew643go
Kent, M. (2019, October 30). Keeping Up with Copyright Infringement: Copyright, Celebrities, Paparazzi, and Social Media. IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law. https://ipwatchdog.com/2019/10/30/keeping-copyright-infringement-copyright-celebrities-paparazzi-social-media/
This is a rather strange case because, if these were "paparazzi photos" it is highly unlikely that the photographers would share the photos with her before publishing them, unless they were unflattering photos and they were trying to blackmail her. If they somehow fell into her hands before the paparazzi had a chance to cash in on them, I think she had a perfect right to publish them herself.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of official photos taken by a photographer, the model (or subject of the photo) often does not have the right to publish the photos without the permission of the photographer. I know this because I did some modeling myself and although I wanted a few of the image files myself, they weren't shared with me...and now I understand why. Although I had no intention of sharing them on social media or elsewhere, photographers have to protect their IP. Also, if photos are released before they are cropped, manipulated, and transformed into the image the photographer is looking for, it's not at all fair to the photographer.