Halle Berry Condemns Drake After He Used Her Image Without Permission
Halle Berry has slammed Drake after the rapper used her image as the cover art for his new single without the actress’ permission.
On Friday, Drake released his latest single Slime You Out with SZA. The rapper also shared the cover art for the track on Instagram which featured a photo of Berry being slimed at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2012.
The rights to the photograph — which shows Berry covered in green slime — are reportedly owned by Getty Images.
After Drake dropped the single and the cover art, Berry shared an Instagram post featuring a pink square with the text: “Sometimes you have to be the bigger guy … even if you’re a woman!”
‘He Didn’t Get My Permission’
While Berry did not explicitly mention Drake in her original Instagram post, her 8.5 million followers interpreted that the actress was referring to the rapper.
Berry was asked about the situation by her fans and she confirmed that the post was about Drake. The actress explained that she was angry after the rapper did not get her consent for the photo.
“[He] didn’t get my permission. That’s not cool I thought better of him!,” the actress says in a comment.
In a further comment, Berry writes: “Hence my post today. When people you admire disappoint you, you have to be the bigger person and move on!”
An Image Taken By Another Photographer
Another Instagram user then asked Berry why was so upset when she does not hold the rights to the photograph, which is reportedly owned by Getty Images. They pointed out that Drake had likely paid the usage fee for the image.
Berry replied that it was because Drake had personally reached out to her to ask if he had her permission to use the image and the actress explicitly refused the request.
“Cuz he asked me and I said no that’s why. Why ask if you intend to do what you want to do!” Berry responds. “That was the f**k you to me. Not cool. You get it?”
Drake has not publicly commented on the cover art. However, the photograph of Berry remains on Drake’s Instagram page and the image has also been shared on SZA’s social media platform.
Celebrities and Control of Their Image
U.S. copyright law is quite straightforward when it comes to intellectual property and clearly states that the person who “authored” a work is the copyright owner, such as a photographer who takes a picture of a celebrity.
In spite of this definition of intellectual property in the eyes of the law, some celebrities believe that they should own the photos taken of them, not the photographers.
Model Emily Ratajkowski, who has been sued numerous times for copyright infringement, has openly spoken out against photographers who have profited from her image and expounded her belief that she should be able to own and control that image.
Meanwhile, Snoop Dogg shared his disgust with copyright law when Nas was sued
for posting an image of himself to Instagram without photographer Al Pereira‘s permission. The rapper did not understand how a photographer could sue a person for a photo that the person is in and argued that current copyright laws need to be updated.
Image credits: Header photos licensed via Depositphotos.