By: Megan Fistori
Dua Lipa is the latest celebrity on the receiving end of the “copyright trolling” phenomenon. In July of 2021, Integral Images Inc. (“Integral Images”) filed a lawsuit against the pop star for sharing one of its photos on her Instagram without permission or authorization in violation of United States Copyright Law. Integral Images is seeking the maximum amount possible under The Copyright Act of 1976 (“Copyright Act”), which totals $150,000. The New York based company claims that Dua Lipa likely profited from posting its photo to her Instagram feed because the singer takes an active and pervasive role in the content posted on her account, and her use of social media is a source of additional revenue and a marketing tool for her musical career.
Copyright trolling is the latest phenomenon which permits a paparazzi agency to take legal action against celebrities who post a picture taken by that paparazzi without licensing permission. As digital media use increases and the need for paparazzi is declining, photo agencies are using copyright lawsuits as a “new and incremental way” of increasing revenue streams. According to copyright law, the rights to photos of celebrities are retained solely by the photographer who took them. Unless the photo has been licensed to a third party, simply being featured in an image does not grant someone the right to post the photo on their personal social media accounts.
Grounded in the U.S. Constitution, copyright is a form of intellectual property law which protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works. Examples of protected works include photography, poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. The Copyright Act was enacted on October 19, 1976 and it provides the basic framework for the current copyright law. It states that if a photograph exists in a tangible medium, it is a form of art deserving legal protection. The paparazzi have the right to secure images captured in public places with a copyright. The copyright law provides legal protection to those who believe his or her copyrighted images have been infringed upon, including by celebrities. In order for a photographer to proceed in an action for copyright infringement an owner must have their creative works registered, or at a minimum pre-registered, with the United States Copyright Office.
More often than not, celebrities are posting copyrighted photos on social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, without acknowledging the owner of the original photograph. Social media platforms make it much easier to take a photo from one page and share it to your own personal page, and as a result, the value of the paparazzi has depreciated. Dua Lipa is among a list of celebrities including Khloé Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Gigi Hadid, and Emily Ratajkowski, who have been on the receiving end of similar lawsuits. For most of these celebrities, social media is part of their job, yet some celebrities do not write their own social media posts. In reality, most celebrities outsource the management of their social media accounts to agencies and managers. A celebrity’s use of social media is vastly different than the everyday user because celebrities utilize social media platforms as a marketing tool for their personal businesses and for paid sponsorship deals with popular brands. Social media provide a major source of income for celebrities, and ultimately the monetary value of posting photos online is a driving force behind the lawsuits commenced by the paparazzi.
Fundamentally, celebrities infringing on paparazzi-sourced photos is no different than any other copyright violation. Photographers, including paparazzi, have the right to prevent the use of his or her name as the author of the work of visual art in the event of a “distortion, mutilation, or other modification of the work…”, and today “modification” includes digitally reposting a duplicate of the original onto any social media site. Most of these suits never make it past preliminary motions. Why? Litigation is expensive and time consuming. Additionally, in an attempt to avoid bad publicity, most celebrities are more likely to settle with the photographers or agencies who own the rights to the photographs. As a result, courts have had little opportunity to determine a resolution to copyright trolling and the issue remains unsettled. In order to create precedent, it will take more than one celebrity, who has the resources and commercial benefits, to continue to litigate these issues rather than accepting a settlement.
The string of paparazzi versus celebrity lawsuits is likely attributed to the rapid rise of social media usage and the financial opportunities that come along with it for celebrities and influencers. It seems copyright law has some catching up to do. The Copyright Act was not enacted with the new digital age in mind, and it is apparent that there is a need for clarity and incorporation of new technologies. Ultimately, copyright law clearly favors the paparazzi. Dua Lipa is certainly not the last celebrity to be on the receiving end of copyright trolling. As social media use and development increases, the ongoing issue of copyright trolls will continue to flood the news.
Student Bio: Megan Fistori is a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School. She is a staffer on the Journal of High Technology Law. Megan received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Justice Studies from the University of New Hampshire.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
