Jennifer Lopez is currently facing legal action for sharing paparazzi-taken photos of herself on social media without obtaining permission. The singer and actress posted images on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) that captured her arrival at the Amazon MGM Studios and Vanity Fair Party in Los Angeles, held the night before the Golden Globe Awards in January 2025.
The photographs, taken by Edwin Blanco and distributed by the agency Backgrid, depict Lopez in a white dress and faux fur coat outside the Chateau Marmont. She captioned the posts “GG Weekend Glamour,” and the images were widely shared by fan accounts and fashion pages.
Blanco and Backgrid have filed separate lawsuits, asserting that Lopez used the images without authorization to promote her public appearances and associated brands. They claim the posts were commercial in nature, aiming to boost engagement and lend credibility to her branded content. Each plaintiff is seeking up to $150,000 in damages per photo.
According to the legal documents, Lopez’s representatives were contacted to negotiate a licensing agreement after the photos were posted. An agreement was reportedly reached, but it has not been signed, and no payment has been made.
This isn’t the first time Lopez has encountered legal issues over sharing photos without permission. She faced similar lawsuits in 2019 and 2020. Other celebrities, including Dua Lipa, Gigi Hadid, and Khloé Kardashian, have also faced legal challenges for posting paparazzi images without proper licensing.
This case highlights the complexities of copyright law in the digital age, emphasizing that individuals featured in photographs do not automatically hold the rights to those images. Photographers and agencies retain the copyright and can enforce their rights if images are used without authorization.
