Kendrick Lamar is now facing a federal lawsuit after he allegedly stole a photograph taken by photographer Giordano Cipriani for his single cover of ‘The Blacker the Berry.’
Cipriani claims that Lamar used the photograph without his permission, and is now demanding compensation as well as damages for the unauthorised use of his work.
The lawsuit filed on July 10 in New York named Kendrick Lamar, Top Dawg Entertainment, Interscope Records and Aftermath Records, suing them $150,000 for every time his photograph was used, as well as for Cipriani’s lawyer fees. The freelance Italian photographer has been published on numerous publications and earns his living by licensing rights to his work.
The photograph taken by Cipriani in 2011 depicts a woman breastfeeding two babies in Africa, and was used without Cipriani’s permission on social media pages to promote the record during the ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ release in March this year.
The lawsuit acquired by Bossip stated:
“This is an action for copyright infringement and related claims brought by Caprini, the sole author, owner and exclusive holder of copyrights in a photograph titled “Twins” (“Photograph”), arising from Defendants’ unauthorised use of the Photograph in conjunction with the online video release and commercial promotion of a music recording titled “The Blacker the Berry.”
Cipriani claims that he was not asked permission by Kendrick nor his record label for use of his photograph, and was not paid for its use. The lawsuit also demands an injunction to prevent Lamar from continuing to use his work.
This follows last years lawsuit over Lamar’s 2011 song ‘Rigamortis,’ which Eric Reed and Willie Jones III claimed used unattributed music from their 2010 song ‘The Thorn.’
Listen to ‘The Blacker the Berry’ here: