The lawsuit alleges that Mannion, who shot the cover of Jay-Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt, “exploited” Jay-Z’s name and image “without consent.” Further, the lawsuit claims that Mannion uses images of Jay-Z on his website in addition to selling prints of the rapper for thousands of dollars, without Jay-Z’s consent.
Jay-Z, according to the lawsuit, asked Mannion to stop selling photos of him, but Mannion refused, and “demanded that Jay-Z pay him tens of millions of dollars to put an end to Mannion’s use of Jay-Z’s likeness.” Jay-Z is now seeking an injunction against Mannion, requiring him to cease usage of Jay-Z’s name and image, as well as pay “compensatory damages.” The lawsuit also notes that it’s “ironic that a photographer would treat the image of a formerly-unknown Black teenager, now wildly successful, as a piece of property to be squeezed for every dollar it can produce.
Mannion’s legal representative said in a statement regarding the lawsuit, “Mr. Mannion has created iconic images of Mr. Carter over the years, and is proud that these images have helped to define the artist that Jay-Z is today.