Mandy Moore Sued for $150,000 for Posting a Photo of Herself

Mandy Moore is the latest celebrity to be sued by a member of the paparazzi for sharing a photo of herself on social media.

Last week, photographer Josiah Kamau filed a lawsuit against the This Is Us actress and pop singer for alleged copyright infringement, accusing her of reproducing and publicly displaying on her Instagram Story a picture he took of her in New York in 2019 without permission. E! News has reached out for comment from Moore’s rep.

The star had posted a screenshot of a June 2019 Daily Mail article that contained the picture, which shows her friend Chase Weideman-Grant opening a car door for her. She wrote on the image, “Chilvalry is not dead but this caption sure has me… [skull emoji]. Missing you already @chaseweideman

Kamau claims he registered the picture of Moore with the United States Copyright Office. Its records show that he copyrighted a batch of 648 photos, including one of the star, in May 2019. Kamau is seeking damages of up to $150,000 and is demanding a jury trial.

“This case demonstrates that celebrities must be vigilant about seeking permission from the photographer, who is the rightful owner and author of the photograph, before displaying photographs on their social media accounts,” Kamau’s attorney, Richard Liebowitz, told E! News on Thursday. “Photographers have a right to be compensated for their work, and are able to enforce their constitutional rights against those who violate copyright law.”

JosiahW / BACKGRID

Over the past few months, celebrities such as Ariana GrandeJustin Bieber, and Gigi Hadid have been sued, often for more than $100,000, by members of the paparazzi over their own postings of unlicensed photos of themselves. Grande and Bieber settled their suits, while a federal court granted Hadid’s motion to dismiss her case.

—Reporting by Jessica Finn

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