Photo Credit: Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
LeBron James Filed $1 Million Countersuit Against Photographer Suing Him For Copyright Infringement
Earlier this year in March, copyright attorney Richard Liebowitz filed a lawsuit against LeBron James on behalf of photographer Steve Mitchell.
On December 13, 2019, Mitchell took a picture of LeBron dunking over Meyers Leonard, when the Lakers played the Heat in Miami.
After the game, the next day, James posted the picture on his social media accounts, but not the original. He (or his team?) used a cropped version of the photo.
The fact that LeBron himself is in the photo does not give him the right to publish it elsewhere. Mitchell owns his photos. He was then seeking damages that “would reflect profits, income, receipts and other benefits derived by James and his co-defendants or, in the alternative, damages of up to $150,000 per infringement.”
According to The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan, LeBron James and his legal team have now filed a seven-figure countersuit against Mitchell.
The four-time champion removed the photos off his Instagram, but previously contested via court filings that he is entitled to post them as long as he isn’t commercially exploiting Mitchell’s work.
If we believe the legal experts cited in the report, it could go either way.
