The Notorious B.I.G’s estate settles lawsuit over iconic photos
nme.comThe Notorious B.I.G’s estate has settled a lawsuit over some iconic photos of the late rapper at the World Trade Centre.In 1996, late photographer Chi Modu took the photos of Biggie – real name Christopher Wallace.
The images, which show the rapper in front of the World Trade Centre towers, were taken five years before the September 11 attacks in New York City.At the filing of the initial lawsuit in 2019, Biggie’s estate claimed Modu was illegally licensing the photos for use on such things as shower curtains and NFTs “in complete disregard for BIG’s rights.” The photographer passed away in 2021.In 2022, a judge ruled that images used in this way on such merchandise did likely violated the rapper’s likeness rights.Now, this week, Billboard reported that Staci Jennifer Trager, who represented The Notorious B.I.G.’s estate, announced that a settlement has been reached regarding the lawsuit on January 18.While the terms of the settlement were not made public, Trager said the resolution was between Biggie’s children and Modu’s widow who are all executors of the estates of the deceased artists. “Pictures of Christopher cannot be commercially exploited without a license from our client,” Trager said.
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