Cam’ron is facing a lawsuit for the use of a famous 2003 photo of himself on various Dipset merch without permission from the original photographer.
As Billboard reports, photographer Djamilla Cochran filed a complaint on Tuesday in New Jersey federal court against the rapper, who she said used her photography of Cam’ron in his now-iconic fuzzy pink coat while holding a pink flip phone. The image was put on various types of merchandise sold by Cam’s merch line Dipset Couture, including t-shirts, jewelry, swimsuits, pillows, and even a pair of shower curtains. In addition, she accused him of posting her photography on his Instagram to promote the merch drop.
Before Cochran filed the complaint, Cam'ron was reportedly notified that he had used the image without the required license to do so. “Getty Images notified defendants of their infringing activities by mail and email on multiple occasions,” Cochran's lawyers wrote in the complaint. “Despite those notifications, defendants continued to sell merchandise and continued to display the photograph on website and accounts.”
The complaint includes screenshots of Cam’s Instagram account sharing the image, with one instance dating as far back as 2014.
The photo was taken at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Show in New York in 2003 and has since become one of the most iconic post-millennium images in hip-hop.
Cam is far from the first musician to face a lawsuit for using their own likeness on social media. Other stars including Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and Ariana Grande have fought similar legal battles. Even LeBron James has faced a copyright lawsuit for using photos of himself without the permission of the photographer.
