Cardi B Faces Trial After Incorporating Tattoo Artist’s Design In Her 2016 Mixtape Cover

Cardi B Faces Trial After Incorporating Tattoo Artist’s Design In Her 2016 Mixtape Cover

Another legal battle is on the horizon for rapper Cardi B.  The reality star turned chart-topping rapper will reportedly face a jury for the decision to incorporate tattoo artist, Kevin Brophy Jr.’s, design onto the back of a male model in her 2016 mixtape cover for Gangsta B_tch Music, Volume 1.

According to reports, Kevin Brophy Jr. alleges Cardi B misappropriated his likeness in “a misleading, offensive, humiliating and provocatively sexual way” in order to launch her career, however, in a summary judgment motion, Cardi B argued that the cover image is transformative fair use of Brophy’s likeness, which the judge rejected.

U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney stated,

“To constitute a transformative fair use, the revised image must have significant transformative or creative elements to make it something more than mere likeness or imitation. A reasonable jury in this case could conclude that there are insufficient transformative or creative elements on the GBMV1 cover to constitute a transformative use of Plaintiff’s tattoo.”

The plaintiff, Kevin Brophy, Jr., utilized the help of an expert on the topic of damages who noted that 84 percent of the album’s royalties were generated by streaming and downloading where the cover art appeared upon searches for the album, according to reports.

However, according to the judge, there were not enough surveys, polls, or research done that would justify the $1,070,854 that was requested was related to the use of the image for the mixtape.

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