Singer Bruno Mars is facing legal action from a photographer who took an image of him as a child in 1989.
Posting on his social media channels, Mars took advantage of the ‘Way Back Wednesday’ craze to share a photo of himself as a young Elvis impersonator, aged 4. Mars was famously the world’s youngest ever Elvis impersonator as a child, and to the very day, still cites Presley as his inspiration behind becoming involved in music. But now, the 32-year-old musician is facing a legal battle, as the photographer behind the image, Catherine McGann, is filing a suit on the grounds she owns the copyright. The photo was posted to Mars’ Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, with the latter acquiring over 1.2 million likes alone.
McGann has apparently filed the suit against both Mars himself and his record label, Warner Music, for damages and any profits they have seemingly made from the photo’s usage. McGann claims she wasn’t contacted regarding permissions to post the photo before it was used. In the age of historical lawsuits, one has to wonder whether McGann has ended up herself profiting from selling this image on the back of Mars’ fame. Who is in the wrong here? Does Mars have a right to post an image of himself?