Cardi B has won a lawsuit over her explicit album art.
Cardi B wins lawsuit over album art
The 30-year-old rapper was sued by plaintiff Kevin Michael Brophy, who claimed that she misused his image on the cover of her 2016 mixtape 'Gangsta B**** Music, Vol. 1'.
The album featured an altered photo of another man with Brophy's back tattoo performing oral sex on the rapper and he sought at least $5 million in damages from Cardi B and her ex-manager Klenord Raphael.
He was also seeking an order blocking her from using his likeness.
Brophy - a married father of two - argued that he works for a "socially-conscious surf and lifestyle company" and faced "uncomfortable comments, questions, and ridicule" over the album art.
However, after he lost the a four-day trial, his attorney Barry Cappello of Cappello Noel said Cardi B and Raphael were "gracious winners".
He added: "If this chapter can close, it may be best for the Brophy family’s ability to put this behind them."
The jury sided with Cardi who cover's use of the tattoo qualifies as "transformative" under intellectual property law and is constitutionally protected.
She added that inking was used "in an anonymous manner, as a single building block" and said the model who posed for the cover was "Black, with hair," while Brophy is a "middle-aged Caucasian with a shaved head".
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