Cardi B Is Being Sued For The Use Of A Tattoo On Her Album Cover
Cardi B is facing a mounting legal challenge over one of her album covers. A judge recently decided that the use of a tattoo on one of her album covers. Namely, the lawsuit states that the album cover used the tattoo in a humiliating way.
Cardi B is heading to court after a federal court ruling.
Cardi B is going to court over the massive back tattoo displayed on Cardi B’s “Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1.” The tattoo of a tiger and a snake was prominently displayed across the man back on the album cover as Cardi B drinks from a Corona bottle. That photo is the cause of a lawsuit against Cardi B.
Cardi B and her legal team originally argued that the image was a transformative take on the original image. The rapper argued that the use of the image was protected under fair use, but the judge did not agree.
“To constitute a transformative fair use, the revised image must have significant transformative or creative elements to make it something more than mere likeness or imitation,” writes Carney. “A reasonable jury in this case could conclude that there are insufficient transformative or creative elements on the GBMV1 cover to constitute a transformative use of Plaintiff’s tattoo.”
The judge is using the testimony of the man who created the album cover against Cardi B.
The creator, Timm Gooden, testified that he had created an album cover after using various images. When he turned in the draft, Gooden was told to find a different image and he used an image he found from a Google search. The image was then pasted onto the man in the photo and used as the album cover.
Kevin Brophy Jr. alleges that the use of the tattoo misappropriated his likeness in a humiliating way. Brophy tried to use an expert to claim that more than $1.5 million were made because of the image, but the judge disagreed.
The case will be heading to a jury in 2021 adding to a trend of tattoo litigation.
Catherine Alexander, WWE wrestler Randy Orton’s tattoo artist, is suing the WWE and Take-Two Interactive Software over a tattoo. The wrestler is depicted in a video game with the tattoo and the tattoo artist wants to be compensated for the use of it.
