Justin Bieber Sued By Paparazzi Over Instagram Post
By Ryan Naumann on October 16, 2019 at 5:42 AM EDT
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Justin Bieber is being sued for posting a photo of himself on his social media.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, a professional photographer, Robert Barbera, is suing Bieber accusing him of copyright infringement.
Barbera says he makes his money by licensing his photographs to online and print media.
The suit explains Barbera took a photo of Bieber and then copyrighted the image. The snap shows Bieber in the back of a car with a friend.
Barbera accuses Bieber of taking his photo and posting it on his Instagram. He says, “Defendants ran the Photograph on the Website. The Website received 3,905,147 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.”
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The suit states, “Defendants infringed Plaintiff’s copyright in the Photograph by reproducing and publicly displaying the Photograph on the Website. Defendants are not, and has never been, licensed or otherwise authorized to reproduce, publically display, distribute and/or use the Photograph.”
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Barbera is demanding Bieber turn over all profits he made by using the photo. He also wants an injunction against the singer from using his work and punitive damages, along with $150,000 per infringement.
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Barbera previously sued Ariana Grande in a separate dispute over copyright infringement.
Barbera took a photo of Grande exiting a building in New York. He said Grande took that photo and posted it on her Instagram, the same day her album came out.
Earlier this year, Grande reached a settlement with Barbera to end the $50,000 battle.
