Vampire Weekend has settled a lawsuit with a model who accused the popular indie rock band of violating her publicity rights by using an old photo of her on an album cover.
The lawsuit by Kirsten Kennis claimed $2 million in damages as a result of being featured without authorization on “Contra,” the band’s 2010 album. According to the complaint, the band obtained the photograph from the photographer, Todd Brody, who was accused of forging her signature on the release form.
The band has made an undisclosed settlement to escape the lawsuit but is still fighting Brody over allegations of misrepresenting his rights to the image in question. Brody recently dismissed his lawyers and is defending himself in the ongoing lawsuit.
In other entertainment legal news:
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A former personal assistant suing movie producer Jon Peters for sexual harassment testified at trial on Friday that he would crawl into bed with her during the making of Superman Returns in 2005. Peters denies the allegations.
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Jay-Z and Kanye West recently took “C.I.A.-like precautions” to ensure their collaborative album wasn’t hacked or leaked. Measures including disabling Wi-Fi at the studio, saving sessions offsite to hard drives, and using biometric devices to lock protected material.
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Provisions in the U.S. Copyright Law will soon allow musicians to exercise “termination rights” and regain control over work created 35 years after first release. Some lawyers call this a “life-threatening change” for the record industry. The industry plans to argue that the works are not subject to termination because they are “works for hire” and compilations. Here’s the NYT story and our previous coverage.
