Gigi Hadid has been slapped with a federal lawsuit over an Instagram post involving her sister Bella, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, a photographer named Ulices Ramales sued Gigi in a New York court.
In the suit, Ramales said he earns a living by licensing photos he takes. The artist said he took snaps of Gigi’s sister Bella in October 2020.
In the image, Bella used her hands to push up her breasts. Gigi shared the photo on her Instagram Story captioned, “this energy!!!! 2020, 2021, 2022, forever @bellahadid.”
Ramales said he never gave permission for Gigi to use his work, nor did she pay him a licensing fee. In addition, he said the photos lost their value after the model posted it to her millions of followers.
The suit read, “Defendant has received a financial benefit directly attributable to the Infringement. Upon information and belief, the Infringement increased traffic to the Account and, in turn, caused Defendant to realize an increase in her own brand recognition and by extension, increased interest and/or public awareness of her own business ventures.”
“Defendant’s use of the Photograph, if widespread, would harm Plaintiff’s potential market for the Photograph,” the lawsuit read.
Chosen Figure represents a “professional photographer” who took photos of Bella outside an apartment on August 12, 2020. Bella then used the photos on her Instagram.
The suit said the photo was registered with the copyright office. “Plaintiff has not licensed Defendant the right to use the Photograph in any manner, nor has Plaintiff assigned any of its exclusive rights in the copyrights to Defendant,” the suit read.
