A photographer by the name of Angela Ma is suing Kendall Jenner for $150,000 for allegedly committing intentional copyright infringement by posting a video of herself on Instagram. The New York-based photographer captured the brief clip in question, which shows Kendall exiting a building while she was visiting New York City last year. The model proceeded to post the video on her Instagram account on September 12th of 2019.

In the lawsuit, Ma asserts that she had already registered the clip with the U.S. Copyright Office before Kendall posted it without consultation or permission. Thus, Ma is suing both Kendall and her company Kendall Jenner Inc., for copyright infringement, claiming that the model had intentionally shared the content for free to her millions of followers “in disregard of and indifference to Plaintiff’s rights.” Ma is seeking in excess of $150,000, and has requested that the court order Kendall to remove the video from her Instagram and to account for all profits she made by using the video illegally.

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Kendall is certainly not the first celebrity to be sued for posting content of themselves on social media. Last month, LeBron James was sued by photographer Steven Mitchell for sharing a photo of himself on Facebook that Mitchell had taken. Before that, Jennifer Lopez and her production company, Nuyorican Productions, were also hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit after she posted a photo of herself and fiancé, Alex Rodriguez, on her Instagram story. Like the Kendall case, both LeBron and J-Lo’s plaintiffs are seeking $150,000 in damages.

It’s been good news all around for Katy Perry lately, Not only has the 13x Grammy-nominated singer recently announced that she’s expecting her first child with fiancé Orlando Bloom, but she just scored a legal victory. Last summer, Christian rapper Flame, real name Marcus Gray, sued Perry and her collaborators. He accused them of stealing parts of his beat from his single “Joyful Noise” in order to make her smash hit track “Dark Horse” featuring Juicy J. A jury agreed and ordered Perry, Capitol Records, and the “Dark Horse” production team to pay a $2.8 million judgment.

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Perry’s legal team immediately filed an appeal and wanted the copyright infringement judgment overturned, and it looks like they took home a win. On Tuesday (March 17), Page Six reported that a judge reviewed the evidence that was presented during the July 2019 trial and decided that “Gray failed the ‘extrinsic test,’ which, per the Hollywood Reporter, ‘requires that a copyright plaintiff identify concrete elements based on objective criteria that the works are similar.'”

It seems Marcus Gray won’t be receiving the millions he’d hoped for. The judgment was much less than he’d originally desired, considering he wanted Katy Perry, Capitol Records, and the producers to fork over $20 million. Check out the tracks below and let us know if you think Katy is in the clear on this one.

Nicki Minaj‘s court battle with Tracy Chapman may soon be coming to an end, as court documents state that the two artists are hoping to settle Tracy’s lawsuit filed against Nicki last year for copyright infringement. According to The Blast, Nicki and Tracy are in the midst of working out an agreement in regards to the case, which has a scheduled trial date of May 26, 2020. The documents state, “the Parties are engaged in settlement discussions and believe that, with a modest extension of time in which to focus on settlement as opposed to discovery or trial-preparation, they may be able to resolve the present dispute without consuming further resources of this Court.” Both parties are asking the court to push back the trial date and subsequent deadlines in order for them to have a chance to settle the case.

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Nicki’s lawyer has indicated that Tracy is asking for her attorney fees to be covered in the settlement. “One of the impediments to settlement is that attorneys’ fees are mounting, and plaintiff is seeking to recover her attorneys’ fees in this action,” he notes. “Thus, as the fees rise, the chances of reaching a settlement diminish. For this reason, I proposed extending the current case deadlines by two months, while we attempt to reach a resolution.”

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The whole ordeal began when Tracy accused Nicki of using a sample of her song, “Baby Can I Hold You” on her own track with Nas, “Sorry,” without permission or compensation. Nicki denied these allegations and demanded that the case be tossed out, to no avail. Nicki admitted to recording the song prior to ever receiving permission to use the sample, but because the sample never cleared, she did not include “Sorry” on her 2018 album, Queen. However, the song was ultimately leaked by Funkmaster Flex on social media, an act that was out of Nicki’s control. She pointed out that she made zero profits from the song because it was released for free. Nicki believes the sample was fair use, and noted that Tracy doesn’t even own the copyright to “Baby Can I Hold You.” Stay tuned for updates on the ongoing case and news about their settlement.

2020 has started out rather eventful for Lil Nas X, he became a two-time Grammy Award winner, starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Doritos, and even found ‘love’ with R&B goddess SZA at an Oscars after-party. However, with all the success he’s had over the past year, he has also run into some pretty major disputes. Last year, the “Panini” performer was sued by music producers Brandon Lee (Don Lee) and Glen Keith DeMeritt III alongside Cardi B for alleged copyright infringement over their hit single, “Rodeo.” Now, Lil Nas X is attempting to get the New York federal court to dismiss the lawsuit entirely in newly filed legal documents obtained by The Blast. 

According to Brandon Lee and Glen Keith DeMeritt III, the producer originally composed the music for a song entitled, “gwenXdonlee4-142,” but later incorporated the track into another song entitled, “Broad Day,” by PuertoReefa & Sakrite Duexe. Brandon Lee claims that his song shares a similar tempo, musical elements, and chord progressions as “Rodeo” and was released before Lil Nas X and Cardi B’s rendition of the song. 

In the recently filed court documents by Lil Nas X and his legal team, he claims that he was unaware of the producers’ composition, reveals that “Rodeo” was independently constructed, and denies any and all allegations of any wrongdoing in regards to the original lawsuit. Lil Nas X’s statement reads:

“The work, Rodeo, was created independently from and without knowledge of the allegedly infringed work. The musical elements from ‘gwenXdonlee4-142’ supposedly used in Rodeo are neither original to Plaintiffs nor copyrightable subject matter.”

The 20-year-old and his team closed out their statement saying:

“Without admitting the use of any copyrighted material allegedly owned by Plaintiffs, the conduct of which they complain was impliedly and/or expressly licensed.”

“Broad Day” and “Rodeo” do share a lot of similarities and including similar instrumental components. However, there’s no telling how this will play out in court without any significant proof that the production was legitimately stolen by Lil Nas X and Cardi B from Brandon Lee. If “Rodeo” was intentionally stolen it has to be frustrating watching Lil Nas X and Nas perform the “Rodeo (Remix)” on stage at this year’s Grammy Awards for the upcoming producer. 

Check out the Don Lee and Glen Keith DeMeritt III produced “Broad Day” in the video provided above as well as Lil Nas X x Nas’ “Rodeo” in the video provided below and let us know if you think this producer has a case in the comment section below.