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50 Cent received some good news this week. After 5 years, the New York rapper gained a partial victory in his copyright lawsuit against WorldStarHipHop.com
50 sued WSHH for using his likeness as part of the site’s banner. The judge in the case ruled in favor of the “Hold On” performer.
The Hollywood Reporter reports:
The main controversy in the lawsuit had to do with the website’s masthead featuring an image of the rapper. In a ruling on Monday, a federal judge granted the hip-hop star summary judgment on copyright and right of publicity claims. In doing so, the judge rejected affirmative defenses including fair use. According to 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.”
