Model Gigi Hadid has reached a settlement in the $150,000 legal battle over a photo of her ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Hadid hashed out a deal with photographer Robert O’Neil. Per their deal, O’Neil dismissed all claims against the model and the case was closed.
Back in September, O’Neil filed a federal lawsuit against Hadid (real name: Jelena Noura Hadid) accusing her of copyright infringement over a photograph he snapped of Zayn.
O’Neil accused Hadid of taking his photo and posting it on her Instagram story without paying him a dime.
He said, “Gigi Hadid did not license the Photograph from Plaintiff for her Instagram Story, nor did Gigi Hadid have Plaintiff’s permission or consent to publish the Photograph on her Instagram Story.”
Further, “Gigi Hadid infringed Plaintiff’s copyright in the Photograph by reproducing and publicly displaying the Photograph on her Instagram Story. Gigi Hadid is not, and has never been, licensed or otherwise authorized to reproduce, publicly display, distribute and/or use the Photograph”
In the Instagram story, she used the photo of Zayn walking in the street. She captioned it “My Manz” and “Muze”.
The photographer sued seeking damages in excess of $150,000 per infringement. He was demanding Hadid to turn over all accounting of profits she made from her Instagram post.
The model has dealt with paparazzi legal battles in the past. She successfully shut down a separate case brought by photo agency, Xclusive-Lee Inc.
The order stated, “the Court concludes that Plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim should nevertheless be dismissed due to Plaintiff’s failure to comply with the registration requirement.” The case will be officially closed and all claims dismissed.
Hadid’s sister Bella was recently hit with a similar lawsuit demanding $150,000 in damages over an Instagram post. She has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
