Photographer sues Miley Cyrus for sharing his photo without permission
Sep 13, 2022
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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Famous singer Miley Cyrus recently found herself in the middle of a copyright infringement lawsuit. As it often happens with celebrities, she was sued after posting a photo of herself on social media without asking for permission first. What’s more, she was sued by the same paparazzo who sued Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande (twice) and Dua Lipa over the same thing.
New York-based paparazzo Robert Barbera sued the pop star over a photo showing her waving to fans as she exited a building. The photo was taken in February 2020, and Barbera alleges that Cyrus shared it with her 181 million Instagram followers without asking for permission.
The lawsuit reads that the photo “was copied, stored and displayed without license or permission, thereby infringing on plaintiff’s copyrights.”
“The infringement includes a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for a fixed tangible medium of expression that was sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be communicated for a period of more than a transitory duration and therefore constitutes a specific infringement.”
Just like in the previous Barbera lawsuits, and other paparazzi lawsuits of this type, the drill is the same. Barbera claims that Cyrus had a financial benefit from sharing his images and harmed the “potential market” he might have had for them.
As you probably know, this isn’t the first time a photographer sues a celebrity over using their photo without permission. Jennifer Lopez, Emily Ratajkowski, Gigi Hadid, and Khloe Kardashian were all sued for posting a paparazzo photo on Instagram. Another photographer sued Rod Stuart for using his photo as a gig backdrop, and Bruno Mars was sued for posting his childhood photo on social media.
As far as Barbera’s lawsuits go, both of those he filed against Ariana Grande were dismissed. As for the Justin Bieber case, it was reportedly settled out of court. So, depending on Cyrus’s lawyers – I guess we can expect one of those two scenarios again, but we’ll see how it unfolds.
[via PetaPixel; image credits: Melissa Rose, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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9 responses to “Photographer sues Miley Cyrus for sharing his photo without permission”
Waiting for the barristers from the Jimbo Wales School of Law at the University of Wikipedia to weigh in on how Miley has the right to use her own image.
Actually depends on the jurisdiction. Laws aren’t the same worldwide, you know? And seems like even in the US it isn’t this easy for the photographer, as the article wrote: “both of those he filed against Ariana Grande were dismissed.”. Maybe because the images don’t reach the threshold of originality. But I didn’t read the files. Being a paparazzo and suing the celebrity one stalks to make profit is pretty weird though, regardless of the legal status. Or rather parasitic.
Oh hmmm, I thought this would wake me up but no, just another dribble drabble, going back to sleep. Next.
If celebrities want nice pictures to share on their Instagram they need to either take them themselves or pay the photographer to take them for them.
Realistically, how does a photographer put an image of someone out there, without their permission?
As a freelancer, I’m all about getting a signature to protect myself!
So, couldn’t she sue him for unlawfully using her photograph?
I better research these laws!
If celebrities want nice pictures to share on their Instagram they need to either take them themselves or pay the photographer to take them for them.
The photographer owns the image. He took it it’s his copyright and she has to pay to use it.
Asking permission to a F Paparazzo?
They should just make it law that if someone takes a photo of you without your permission you can share that photo without their permission. Only fair.