Miley Cyrus is being sued for posting a picture, of herself, on Instagram.
The 'Midnight Sky' singer shared a snap of herself, waving at fans, wearing Louis Vuitton jeans - pretty chill, right?
So, why is Cyrus being sued for a seemingly tame picture? Well, photographer Robert Barbera is alleging it wasn't hers to share.
Advert
The now infamous photo, taken back in 2020, has become the subject of a lawsuit filed by Barbera on Friday, 9 September.
In the suit, Barbera alleged: "The photograph 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," the photographer goes on to say in documents obtained by Law360.
This isn't the first case of its kind, as Barbera has sued other singers before, such as Dua Lipa.
In June 2022, Barbera had alleged that the 'Future Nostalgia' singer had shared a picture 'without permission or authorisation from plaintiff.'
As reported by Billboard, the lawsuit claimed: "The defendant volitionally selected, copied, stored and displayed each of plaintiff’s copyright protected photographs."
In the lawsuit, the photographer also suggested: "Upon information and belief, the Infringements increased traffic to the Account and, in turn, caused Defendant to realise an increase in the revenues generated via Defendant’s promotional events and the sale of Defendant’s musical works."
He requested a cost for damages and disgorgement of any profits made by the photo. However, the images in question were removed from her account.
However, Barbera isn't the only photographer that's sued a celebrity for sharing photos of themselves, as Splash news agency sued Jessica Simpson for doing something similar back in 2018.
The company alleged: "The copy of the photograph that Simpson distributed on Instagram had been altered, without authorisation or approval, to remove the CMI showing plaintiff as the copyright owner of the image."
They then requested $25,000 from the singer, with the company's attorney, Peter Perkowski, writing: "Simpson’s Instagram post and Twitter tweet made the Photograph immediately available to her nearly 11.5 million followers and others, consumers of entertainment news — and especially news and images of Simpson herself, as evidenced by their status as followers of her — who would otherwise be interested in viewing licensed versions of the Photograph in the magazines and newspapers that are plaintiff’s customers," Fox News reports.
Neither Simpson, Cyrus, or Dua Lipa has commented on their lawsuits.
UNILAD has reached out to Cyrus and Dua Lipa's representatives for comment.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Topics: Miley Cyrus, News, Celebrity, Instagram, Viral
Shola Lee