Skip to content
Image from Chi Modu Instagram account
Image from Chi Modu Instagram account

News -

Copyright holder of Biggie Smalls’ photos is being sued for unlawfully offering to sell products bearing his image and likeness

Heirs of hip-hop photographer Chi Modu and rapper Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, are entangled in a legal battle since Modu started using his 1996 Biggie Smalls’ copyright-protected photo for a snowboard deal with a Swiss company.

Biggie’s estate, Notorious BIG LLC, has recently accused Modu of using the “rapper’s likeness” and licensing it for use on “snowboards, t-shirts, shower curtains, and NFTs.”

The estate, which was set up by the mother and wife of late Biggie Smalls, seeks to prevent Sophia Modu, wife of the late photographer, from selling merchandise featuring her husband’s photos, claiming it violates their right to publicity.

Even though Modu is the registered copyright owner of the photographs, the estate claims that it is irrelevant because Biggie Smalls' likeness and name appear in the photographs and subsequent merchandise, which is infringing on Notorious BIG LLC.

It also claims that “Mr. and Mrs. Modu have caused and will continue to cause irreparable injury to BIG by diminishing the reputation of the Biggie brand, including the value of future endorsement and number of partnership opportunities available to BIG.”

Modu’s wife continues to sell Biggie-related products online at hiphopimages.com. The estate also discovered in 2021 that a series of products were available as NFTs on the Rarible website.

But the estate believes itself to be the sole owner of all property rights, including the right of publicity to the name, image, voice, signature, and likeness of Biggie, as well as certain trademark rights, the right of association, sponsorship and copyrights.

Citing a few examples of past cases in the suit, it said that even though Chi Modu is the legally registered copyright owner of the photographs used on the snowboard, it is not viable or even relevant to the use of Biggie’s name and likeness.

The rift began in 2018 when the photographer asked Biggie's marketing company to pay US$100,000 as a “living wage” for his work after discovering that it was making hundreds of thousands of dollars from the photos he licensed but only receiving $3,000 per photo per year.

The estate then sued Modu in California, claiming he used the rapper’s image to sell snowboards without permission. The estate also sued the Switzerland-based snowboard company YES. during the same time.

However, Modu’s wife claims that her husband had been licensing photos of BIG since the 1990s, including to the Wallace heirs’ own marketing company.

While filing a countersuit in 2020, photographer Modu had said: “Usually the copyright holder sues people for infringement on their copyright,” but in this situation “a subject is trying to sue a copyright holder for using their legally, federally, copyrighted creation. So, it’s completely backwards. And the main reason for the suit, it’s very clear to me, is to scare artists and creatives out of their rights.”

“Once I press that shutter, I’m the copyright holder. Copyright is a very powerful right and copyright is a federal right. It’s not a state right. Right of publicity is a state right, and it’s not even consistent from state to state,” he added.

The hearing has yet to be decided, but the judge has urged both parties to consider meeting with a mediator to try to resolve their dispute.

PitchMark helps innovators deter idea theft, so that third-parties that they share their idea with get the idea but don’t take it. Visit PitchMark.net and register for free as a PitchMark member today.

Topics

Categories

Contacts

Related content

  • Photo from Stig Havard Dirdal Instagram Account

    Rip-off or not: Makers of Russian movie Yolki 8 accused of copying "human Christmas tree" photo concept

    Social media is filled with photos and videos used by people who do not seek permission from the original creators. Most recently, for example, a Russian production house was pinpointed as having copied the original concept of a photographer without bothering to tweak the original concept even slightly.
    In December 2015, photographer Stig Havard Dirdal was hired by the Norwegian camera store St

  • How to use the PitchMark Certificate

    How to use the PitchMark Certificate

    All innovators want to benefit from their original ideas. To do so usually involves discussing or pitching the idea with others, in order to get funding, marketing, or feedback.

    Unfortunately, this opens up innovators to the risk of idea theft. Copyright protection mechanisms do exist, but they can be costly and cumbersome. Here’s where PitchMark can help.
    When innovators register thei

  • Image source: zhangjingna.com & todayonline.com

    Singaporean photographer Jingna Zhang accuses Luxembourg student artist of plagiarizing her work for award-winning painting

    Singaporean photographer Jingna Zhang, who is currently based in the United States, has filed a lawsuit against Luxembourg-based art student Jeff Dieschburg accusing him of painting a picture that is almost identical to a photo she shot in the past.
    The artist has denied the plagiarism allegation, but he doesn’t deny taking inspiration from the photo. Zhang, on the other hand, believes a “perso

  • How Copytrack’s bot wrongly accused US White House photographer of stealing a photo clicked by himself

    How Copytrack’s bot wrongly accused US White House photographer of stealing a photo clicked by himself

    Former United States’ White House photographer Pete Souza had been threatened with copyright litigation for publishing a photo he took of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on his personal website. However, it was later revealed that the takedown notice was erroneously sent by the software bot of a copyright tracking firm.
    The photo in question was taken by Mr Souza while onboard Air Force One i

  • Screengrab of www.dreamstime.com

    Dreamstime launches new tool to help, educate and persuade naive copyright infringers

    Dreamstime, one of the world’s leaders in photo licensing, has introduced LicenseGuard, a proprietary copyright tracking tool that seeks to resolve disputes by offering cost-effective licensing as well as education.
    The tool will use AI-powered scanning technology, cutting-edge image recognition algorithms, and human assessment to track, detect, and flag potentially unlicensed uses of the agenc

  • Miley Cyrus sued for posting a photo of herself without photographer’s permission

    Miley Cyrus sued for posting a photo of herself without photographer’s permission

    Pop star Miley Cyrus is being sued for copyright infringement for posting a picture of herself on her Instagram that she didn’t have permission to use.
    Photographer Robert Barbera sued Cyrus over her use of the picture.
    He asserts that she shared the image to her Instagram account without his consent in February 2021.
    According to Bloomberg Law, Barbera asserts that Cyrus profited finan

  • How U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lynn Goldsmith vs Andy Warhol’s case could alter the definition of fair use under copyright

    How U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lynn Goldsmith vs Andy Warhol’s case could alter the definition of fair use under copyright

    The announcement that the US Supreme Court will hear the Andy Warhol Foundation's appeal of a lower court decision in Lynn Goldsmith's favor regarding Warhol's 1984 paintings of rock star Prince has alarmed not only the community of American photographers and artists but also their Associations and the US copyright office because the decision could alter the definition of fair use and result in mo

  • Court dismisses lawsuit filed against artist Julie Torres for using the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s photo

    Court dismisses lawsuit filed against artist Julie Torres for using the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s photo

    An Atlanta federal judge dismissed a copyright infringement claim brought against Georgia artist Julie Torres for using a picture of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on the grounds that the photography agency Creative Photographers Inc. lacked legal grounds to bring the lawsuit.
    In November 2021, the agency filed a lawsuit against Torres for not seeking prior permission to use the late U.S

  • Photographer sues media outlet Gannett for copyright infringement over the use of photo she shot

    Photographer sues media outlet Gannett for copyright infringement over the use of photo she shot

    US-based photographer Stephanie Campbell has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Gannett Media Corp. and more than 220 Gannett news outlets for allegedly using a photo she shot without permission.
    Campbell claims she owns the right to a photo she took of former National Football League coach Katie Sowers, which Gannett obtained through a screenshot to publish to their readers and sub

  • Image source: wheretoget.co.uk / Robert Barbera Instagram

    Dua Lipa sued (again) for sharing a paparazzo photo of herself on her Instagram

    British pop singer Dua Lipa is being sued for copyright infringement after sharing a photo of her taken by New York-based paparazzo photographer Robert Barbera in July 2018.
    The photo in question, which was shared by her on Instagram in 2019 without taking permission from the photographer, shows Lipa wearing a black sweater bearing the word “HEROES” in large capital letters while out in N