Photo agency Backgrid has sued Interview magazine for allegedly posting a “valuable” photo of singer Grimes without permission.
In October 2021, Grimes — who had recently split from her billionaire partner Elon Musk — was photographed reading The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx.
In images that were captured by Backgrid, Grimes was seen reading the anti-capitalistic book while sitting on the pavement in downtown Los Angeles.
The pictures marked Grimes’ first public appearance after Musk had announced that he and the singer had “semi-separated” after three years together.
Now, according to The New York Post, Backgrid have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Interview magazine claiming that the publication posted the agency’s “coveted” photo of Grimes without consent on Instagram in October 2021.
In a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court Southern District of New York on September 25, Backgrid claims that Interview magazine “knew they did not have the right to post and exploit the photo.”
According to court documents, it appears that Backgrid is suing Interview magazine for posting a photo of Grimes reading Stephanie Meyer’s novel Twilight in downtown Los Angeles.
When the photos of Grimes reading Marx’s manifesto first surfaced, the images went viral on social media. The singer became a meme and social media edited the photos so it looked like she was reading a different book.
It appears that Backgrid’s image of Grimes with The Communist Manifesto may have been Photoshopped to look like the singer was reading the romance-fantasy novel Twilight instead.
In the filing, Backgrid says it “attempted to resolve this dispute prior to filing” the federal complaint on Sept. 25, the court docs state. However, Interview magazine allegedly “refused to engage in meaningful discussions.”
“Defendants [Interview Magazine] have driven significant traffic to their Instagram account, and therefore also the Interview Magazine website, and therefore increased its revenue, in large part due to the presence of the sought after and searched-for Grimes photo that frame this dispute,” the photo agency claims in the lawsuit.
The photo agency is seeking unspecified damages from Interview Magazine for the alleged copyright infringement.
Image credits: All photos via court documents (Backgrid USA, Inc. v. Interview, Inc).