The complaint, filed today (June 15) in a California federal court, reads: “Mannion’s use of JAY-Z’s name, likeness, identity, and persona was, and is, in conscious disregard of JAY-Z’s right of privacy and publicity, and of his exclusive right to control the use and exploitation of his name, likeness, identity, and persona.” The lawsuit accuses Mannion of thereby violating section 3344 of the California Civil Code, as well as JAY-Z’s common law privacy rights.
When reached by Pitchfork, attorneys for JAY-Z offered no comment. A legal representative for Jonathan Mannion offered the following statement to Pitchfork:
Mr. Mannion has created iconic images of Mr. Carter over the
years, and is proud that these images have helped to define the artist
that Jay-Z is today. Mr. Mannion has the utmost respect for Mr. Carter
and his body of work, and expects that Mr. Carter would similarly
respect the rights of artists and creators who have helped him achieve
the heights to which he has ascended.
We are confident that the First Amendment protects Mr. Mannion’s right
to sell fine art prints of his copyrighted works, and will review the
complaint and respond in due course.
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