PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/GIGI HADID
Months after the fashionista faced a lawsuit for posting a paparazzi photo without permission, a federal court has granted a motion to dismiss the case, reported Instyle.
According to documents obtained by People, a U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen ruled that Xclusive-Lee Inc., an independent photo agency company that owned the photo of Gigi, could not sue for direct copyright infringement because it failed to demonstrate that “the defendant has actually copied the plaintiff’s work."
https://www.instagram.com/p/By3MqKyn5dd/
The case was submitted to the US federal court in January this year after Xclusive sued the model for sharing an October 2018 on Instagram without the photographers permission.
According to the documents, approximately 1.6 million people commented or liked the photo within the first four days after Gigi posted the image, so the company sought the profits.
The model removed the photo of herself from her Instagram page after sharing it, but the suit alleged that it wasn't the only instance of unlicensed photos being shared.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx-rcp-HVzw/
“As of the date of this filing, Hadid’s Instagram account includes at least fifty examples of uncredited photographs of Hadid in public, at press events, or on the runway,” the documents stated.
The company claims the style it-girl knew she was doing wrong when she posted the uncredited photo and even referenced a similar copyright lawsuit she was involved in back in 2017.
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However, Gigi was taking none of it and clapped back by posting a lengthy Instagram rant stating that she (including other celebrities) felt as if their privacy is constantly invaded by aggressive paparazzi.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxziJM4HIHN/
“Yesterday I heard from my management that I am being ‘legally pursued’ for my last (now deleted) Instagram post. The photo is by a Paparazzi & is of me on the street outside an event last week. I posed/smiled for the photo because I understand that this is part of my job, this was an appropriate situation for ‘the press’ to attend, and also that this is how paparazzi make a living,” Gigi wrote.
The supermodel continued to rant about the paparazzi and said, “These people make money off of us everyday, LEGALLY stalking us day in and day out- for nothing special- for us to walk six feet to a car and six feet into a work building. They drive dangerously close and extremely recklessly; they put the general public in danger in pursuit of a photo.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxgKbIGnGeO/
Gigi also noted that she and many others have had car accidents as a result of reckless photographers and as a result, have dealt with the emotional toll of constantly being followed.
“To the paparazzi, I understand that this is how you make your living, and I respect that this is something I must accept with my job. But there is a line,” Gigi wrote. “We are human beings, and sometimes it takes a lot of courage to engage with you because of the resentment I feel for the negative parts of these experiences.”
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