Actress and singer Jennifer Lopez has been named as a defendant in a new federal lawsuit alleging copyright infringement for posting unlicensed paparazzi photos of herself on social media platforms Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
The complaint, filed by professional photographer Edwin Blanco and Backgrid USA, Inc., accuses Lopez of unlawfully reproducing and displaying copyrighted images without permission. The photos at issue were taken in January 2024, when Lopez appeared at the Amazon MGM Studios and Vanity Fair pre-Golden Globes party in Los Angeles. Lopez later posted the images to her verified accounts with the caption, “GG Weekend Glamour.”
According to court filings, Blanco and Backgrid contend that Lopez did not obtain any license to publish the images and that her posts constituted unauthorized use under the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.). The plaintiffs are seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per photograph, along with legal fees and injunctive relief.
In line with recent legal precedent, the lawsuit underscores a well-established principle: public figures do not own the rights to paparazzi photos taken of them in public settings. While Lopez is the subject of the photos, copyright ownership resides with the photographer and his agency unless a transfer or license is granted.
This lawsuit follows a string of similar actions brought by Backgrid and other agencies against celebrities who repost their own paparazzi images without compensation to the original content creators. Previous defendants in comparable cases have included Gigi Hadid, Khloé Kardashian, and LeBron James.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, could again test the limits of fair use and publicity rights when weighed against the exclusive rights of photographers under federal copyright law.
As of this report, Lopez has not issued a public response, and no hearings have been scheduled.
