Maybe Khloe Kardashian should stick to posting selfies from now on. The fitness and fashion guru is facing a lawsuit from paparazzi agency XPosure Photos for posting a picture of herself on Instagram.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the complaint states, “Plaintiff never licensed the Photograph to defendants. Nevertheless, defendants have used, and continue to use, the Photograph without authorization or permission from plaintiff to do so.” The defendants include Khloe and ten others, possibly members of her social team. XPosure is seeking “an injunction, profits arising from the act of alleged infringement, statutory damages up to $25,000 and more.”
The photo in question was posted on Sept. 14, 2016, according to court documents. The paparazzi pic, which shows Khloe and her sister Kourtney going to dinner at a restaurant in Miami, was originally taken by Manual Munoz and licensed to The Daily Mail. According to the complaint, the photo was edited to remove copyright information.
In a statement, XPosure blamed Khloe for taking away their opportunity to profit from the photo. “Kardashian’s Instagram post made the photograph immediately available to her nearly 67 million followers and others, consumers of entertainment news—and especially news and images of Kardashian herself, as evidenced by their status as followers of Kardashian—who would otherwise be interested in viewing licensed versions of the photograph in the magazines and newspapers that are plaintiff’s customers.”
While it seems ridiculous for Khloe to be facing legal repercussions for posting a picture of herself, she and her sisters do make a lot of money on Instagram. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this legal battle plays out.