Photographer Loses Copyright Lawsuit Claiming Lil Nas X Stole His Poses
Lil Nas X has beaten a lawsuit brought by a photographer who alleged that the rapper had copied his poses in several of his copyrighted images on Instagram.
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed photographer Rodney Woodland’s copyright infringement lawsuit against Lil Nas X — whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill.
Woodland filed a lawsuit against Lil Nas X for copyright infringement in 2022, claiming the Old Town Road rapper had stolen the poses and concepts for the images from photos he posted in the months and years prior.
According to Billboard, the photographer accused Lil Nas X of ripping off 11 of his copyrighted photographs, illegally copying “original and unique elements” of them, including “poses, colors, lighting, and coloring.” The images all feature Woodland and Nas naked with the intimate parts of their bodies hidden, either by their pose or the use of editing elements.
Woodland’s photos were posted between August 2018 and July 2021 and received between eight and seventy-five likes. Meanwhile, Lil Nas X’s photos were shared on Instagram as part of the promotional campaign for his debut album Montero, between March and October 2021, and received hundreds of thousands of likes on the platform.
Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the competing Instagram posts had only a handful of minor similarities, which were not enough to constitute copyright infringement. The court also concluded that the poses and themes featured in Woodland’s photos are not protected under copyright law.
For example, Woodland alleged that the rapper had copied his photo series of Black men in chains in one image that Lil Nas X used as artwork for his single “Industry Baby.” But the court ruled that this concept was not copyright protected.
“The idea in each of the photos is the same — the provocative image of a Black man in chains,” Judge Kenneth K. Lee writes. “But that idea is not protected — indeed, it is a common motif in many pieces of art.”
The appeals court tossed out Woodland’s lawsuit for an even more straightforward reason: there was no evidence that Lil Nas X had ever seen the images in question. Billboard reports that Woodland couldn’t prove the rapper had viewed his Instagram posts — a key element known as “access” in copyright law, which is essential to any infringement claim.
“It is not enough to simply allege that [Lil Nas] is an active user of Instagram and thus had a reasonable possibility of viewing Woodland’s photos,” Judge Kenneth K. Lee says. “There are over a billion users and many more posts on Instagram. The mere fact that Hill uses Instagram and that Woodland’s photos are on Instagram raises no more than a bare possibility that Hill viewed Woodland’s photos.”
Although Lil Nas X came out on top in this case, a forthcoming lawsuit between two influencers could reshape copyright law entirely. Texas-based influencer Sydney Nicole Gifford is suing fellow creator Alyssa Sheil, accusing her of copying her social media “aesthetic” — a case that could redefine how copyright applies in the world of content creation.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos and center photos via court documents.
