Source: Prince Williams / Getty / Cam’ron
Rapper/sports talk show analyst Cam’ron is learning the hard way about copyright infringement when using photos of yourself you don’t own.
Spotted on Digital Music News, the Diplomats co-founder and co-host of the It Is What It Is podcast has to open up his wallet and pay photographer Djamilla Cochran $51,000.
A judge is ordering Cam’ron to pay Cochran for using her iconic image that features the Harlem rapper donning a pink fur coat and headband while using a pink flip phone without permission.
Per Digital Music News:
Since Cam’ron, whose legal name is Cameron Giles, never so much as responded to the lawsuit, let alone offered up any defenses, Judge William Martini ruled easily in Cochran’s favor. In his ruling, Judge Martini ordered Cam’ron to pay $40,530 in “statutory damages,” in addition to repaying the $10,691 that it cost Cochran to bring the lawsuit in the first place.
“The court finds that a statutory damages award of seven times the licensing fee is sufficient to compensate plaintiff for the infringement of her copyright and to deter future infringements by punishing the defendants,” wrote the judge.
Cochran captured the image in 2003 at a New York fashion show, and it is one of Hip-Hop’s most iconic images. Per the lawsuit, Cam’ron, born Cameron Giles, used the photo on merch like jewelry, t-shirts, and other merchandise.
Now, immediately, you might be wondering how it is possible that the “Oh Boy” crafter is being sued for using a photo of himself; well, the photograph belongs to the person who took the picture.
Cam’ron is not the first celebrity to face this dilemma; Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and Dua Lipa have also faced similar lawsuits.