Artists continue to face lawsuits if they dare to post a photo themselves on their Instagram account that they don't own the rights to. Jennifer Lopez is the latest celebrity to receive a lawsuit over sharing a photo on her Instagram.
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Photographer Steve Sands is suing J. Lo as well as her production company for $150,000 in damages, after the singer/actress shared a photo to promote her brand, according to legal documents. The photo in question was posted in June 2017, without Sands permission. The photo received over 656,000 Likes, and did not provide any compensation or credit to Sands too. Thus, Sands is "entitled to statutory damages up to $150,000 per work infringed."
Sands' lawyer, Richard Liebowitz, released a statement on the lawsuit to E! News, saying,
"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."
The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan Federal Court. We'll keep you posted as this lawsuit unravels.