Jim Jones Sued for Use of Images of Topless Women in ‘Summertime’ Video Without Consent

The Sacramento Bee reports rap artist Jim Jones just got sued this Wednesday for using the image of a couple of women who were topless in his ‘Summertime’ video. Okay folks, seriously, this is a no brainer. If you are a fashion designer who wants to produce a fashion film, a musician producing a music video or whatever purpose you seek to create a  video, you must get into the habit of getting a written release. Lawsuits like this are very easily avoided. Jim Jones, if the alleged facts are indeed true, like d’oh? You are a star and definitely not a novice in the game. What the dealio homie? Why didn’t that get cleared with your label and your legal team?

“Two Texas women say they turned up topless in a Jim Jones video without their permission, and they’re suing the New York-based rapper over the “Summer Time” shots.

Sharie Johnson and Samantha Stotts filed a lawsuit against the rapper Wednesday in New York, saying their privacy was violated by the shots in his “Summer Time” video, in which Jones and various others cavort on a tropical beach while he proclaims that he “can’t wait for the summer time.”

Lawyers for Jones didn’t immediately return telephone messages Thursday.

Johnson and Stotts, two Houston-area friends in their 20s, were on a hotel’s private beach last May in Miami Beach, Fla., when they noticed the “We Fly High” rapper’s film crew and an entourage, their lawyer, Taso Pardalis, said Thursday.

“They weren’t too impressed” and didn’t know who Jones was, Pardalis said.

The women initially didn’t realize they were being recorded and covered up or darted away when they did, Pardalis said. While one shot appeared to be a close-up, it was made from farther away, he said. They were aghast when a friend spotted the video online and alerted them this winter, the attorney said.”

UDUAK LAW FIRM BLOG ANALYSIS

I expect his defense team to argue that the ladies gave consent but without a release, it is a tough argument to make. Another argument that can be explored is whether the ladies had an expectation of privacy at the beach. This will turn on whether the beach was a secluded private beach or whether it was a public one. The general rule is that you can lawfully be photographed in a  public place, especially if you are a celebrity. If that happens, there is not much you can do about it. This is because persons in public locations have a limited scope of privacy rights available to them when in public.

I am thinking Jim Jones wants what will be a very expensive  ‘Summertime’ to be so over, right about now, so he can  return to ‘Ballin’ again.

Sacramento Bee has the full story.

Photocredit: Hiphop-n-more.com