Gigi Hadid thought she was doing a good thing when she dedicated an IG post to baby sister Bella Hadid, but now she’s being sued…
It’s A Federal Lawsuit
The model really got herself into something this time. She was hit with a federal lawsuit from a photographer named Ulices Ramales. She apparently shared one of his photos of her sister on Instagram but never asked him for permission, nor compensated him.
The picture in question is one of Bella holding her chest up with her hands. The photo was taken back in 2020, and Gigi recently used it as part of an appreciation post for Bella. She captioned the IG Story, “this energy!!!! 2020, 2021, 2022, forever @bellahadid.”
Ramales was alerted to the post and insists he never gave Gigi permission to use his work. He claims the photos lost their value after the model posted it to her millions of followers. The suit goes into detail about exactly what Ramales wants.
Gigi Hadid On The Hook For Infringement
In the lawsuit, the photographer claims:
“Defendant has received a financial benefit directly attributable to the Infringement. Upon information and belief, the Infringement increased traffic to the Account and, in turn, caused Defendant to realize an increase in her own brand recognition and by extension, increased interest and/or public awareness of her own business ventures.”
The suit goes on to state, “Defendant’s use of the Photograph, if widespread, would harm Plaintiff’s potential market for the Photograph.” It’s unclear what amount the photographer is asking for an undisclosed amount of money and also wants an injunction against Gigi from using his work in the future.
Bella Hadid Is Being Sued Too
The fellow model is dealing with her own lawsuit as well. In a completely separate case, a company called Chosen Figure LLC is suing Bella Hadid. Chosen Figure represents a “professional photographer”.
This photographer claims they took a picture of Bella outside of an apartment on August 12, 2020. Bella posted the picture, but it was already registered with a copyright office. The suit reads:
“Plaintiff has not licensed Defendant the right to use the Photograph in any manner, nor has Plaintiff assigned any of its exclusive rights in the copyrights to Defendant.” In Bella’s case, Chosen Figure demanded all the profits that Bella made using their work plus unspecified damages.
Bella And Gigi Hadid Have Been Sued Before
Photographers apparently love to sue the Hadid sisters. Bella was sued twice in one week once! First was the agency, and a few days later it was photographer Robert O’Neil who filed a federal suit against Bella on December 20 in New York.
He said he took a picture of Bella in a red bandana on the beach in 2019. He obtained a copyright for the image he took in early 2020, and shortly after Bella posted it. The photographer in the court docs accused Bella of taking the pic and posting it on her Instagram profile of over 56.6 million followers, without his permission or payment to license it. Stayed tuned for updates!