Rapper 50 Cent has won his lawsuit against WorldStar for illegally using his image on the video website.
The suit which was filed 5 years ago (2009), 50 Cent filed a lawsuit against WorldStarHipHop.com, claiming that his image was used on the header of the website without his permission. Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent argued that the picture left visitors with the impression that the rapper owned or was affiliated with the site.
Now, CelebNMusic247.com has learned that a judge has ruled that 50 be given “summary judgment on copyright and right of publicity claims”, as well as rejecting defenses of fair use of the image.
Hollywood reporter points to a quote from the ruling;
“Defendants provide no authority to support the fair use of a celebrity’s image or likeness. This is not surprising, as a celebrity’s image, standing alone, only evokes that celebrity’s persona. Jackson’s image does not, by itself, describe anything about Defendants’ website.”
While court documents reveal 50 Cent the victor in the 50 Cent vs WorldStarHipHop lawsuit. Here is what is being reported.
Court finds in favor of 50 Cent on his copyright infringement claims. The other claims, for trademark infringement and right of publicity under New York Civil Rights law, will go to trial.
The website worldstarhiphop (perhaps more famous for its viral videos of street fights than of music) had posted unauthorized images of 50 Cent, from cover art of his mixtapes.
[Read Legal Docs HERE: 50-Cent-v-World-Star-Hip-Hop-Opinion]
On the copyright infringement claim, the defendants argued that the photographs were not properly registered because they were registered as part of the sound recordings instead of separately as photographs. However, the copyright office permits copyright owners to register separate copyrightable works that a part of a sound recording in the single sound recording copyright registration – see pages 9-10 of the opinion.
