Estate of Notorious B.I.G. Settles Long-Running Photography IP Dispute

The Estate of the Notorious B.I.G. settles a long-running hallmark and right of promotion disagreement with a late professional photographer.

A years-long hallmark claim has actually been dealt with in favor of the Estate of the Notorious B.I.G., having actually at first taken legal action against late hip-hop professional photographer Chi Modu in 2019 over the unapproved usage of photos he took of Christopher Wallace (much better referred to as Biggie Smalls, the Notorious B.I.G.) in 1996.

Modu had actually utilized the images on “snowboards, (…) skateboards, shower drapes, and NFTs” without the estate’s consent, which he declared was not needed considering that he was the initial professional photographer. The estate took legal action against Modu in 2019.

In May 2022, the court concurred with the estate that Modu’s actions remained in offense of the law, and the estate won an initial injunction that avoided Modu’s widow from offering product with her late spouse’s photos of the rap artist, as it breached the estate’s right to promotion in Wallace’s image.

Prior to the court’s settlement, the trial would have started this month. Regards to the settlement will stay private, according to Nixon Peabody LLP, which encouraged the estate in the disagreement.

“We are pleased to bring this prominent matter to an end, effectively vindicating our customer’s promotion and other IP rights,” stated Nixon Peabody Intellectual Property partner Staci Jennifer Trager, who led representation of the estate. “Pictures of Christopher can not be commercially made use of without a license from our customer. The settlement contract is a testimony to the commitment of our customer, along with our employee, in persevering over numerous years.”

Together with Trager, the Nixon Peabody group protecting the Estate of the Notorious B.I.G. consisted of Intellectual Property counsel Aaron Brian, and associate Mark Zhai.

As a professional photographer for The Source, Modu took images of hip-hop legends consisting of Tupac ShakurMary J. Blige, and LL Cool J. In 1996 for a publication cover shoot, he took numerous pictures of Biggie standing in front of the World Trade Center– a year before the rap artist was shot and eliminated, and 5 years before the Twin Towers were damaged on September 11, 2001.