SANTA ANA, Calif. –
A jury sided with Cardi B on Friday in a copyright infringement lawsuit involving a man who alleges the Grammy-winning rapper abused his back tattoo for the cover of the year’s mixtape. 2016 is full of her voluptuous.
A federal grand jury in Southern California ruled Kevin Michael Brophy failed to prove Cardi B appropriated his portrait. After the female jury read the verdict, the rapper hugged his lawyers and appeared delighted.
Cardi B thanked jurors, admitting she was “quite nervous” before hearing the verdict.
“I’m not sure if I’ll lose,” she said after leaving court. She was surrounded by a number of reporters, photographers and more than 40 high school students who chanted her name. One fan held up a sign asking if she could take him to his hometown dance, to which she replied “Yes, I’ll see what I can do.”
“I told myself if I win, I’ll beat Mr. In the courtroom, Cardi B had a brief, informal conversation with Brophy and shook his hand.
Brophy filed the lawsuit a year after the rapper’s 2016 mixtape was released. He calls himself a “family man with young children” and says he has been “hurt and humiliated” by the artwork – which shows a tattooed man from behind with the head between the rapper’s legs inside a limousine. The man’s face could not be seen.
“At the end of the day, I really respect you as an artist,” Brophy told Cardi B.
Brophy’s attorney, A. Barry Cappello, said photo editing software was used to put back tattoos, which have appeared in tattoo magazines, onto male models on mixtape covers.
But Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, denied the allegations in her testimony earlier in the week – and had such a tense exchange with Cappello that the trial was dismissed by US judge Cormac Carney. pause briefly.
Cardi B said she felt Brophy didn’t suffer any consequences due to the artwork. She said Brophy had been legally harassing her for five years – and at one point she even said she missed her youngest child’s “first step” because of the trial.
Cardi B gave clear answers to some of Cappello’s questions. The lawyer had once asked her to calm down, but she vehemently opposed his objection that she knew about the altered image.
Their heated exchange prompted the judge to send the jury out of the Santa Ana, California courtroom and tell both sides that he was considering a magistrate case. After a short period of time, he called the dispute “unprofessional” and “inefficient” but allowed further questioning, then set new restrictions on both sides.
Cardi B said one artist only used a “small portion” of her tattoos without her knowledge. She has previously said that the cover art – created by Timm Gooden – is a fair use to transform Brophy’s image.
Cappello said Gooden was paid $50 to create a design, but was asked to find another tattoo after he submitted an initial sketch. He told Gooden Googled “back tattoos” before he found an image and stuck it on the cover.
Cardi B’s attorney, Peter Anderson, said Brophy and the mixtape image were unrelated, noting that the model has no neck tattoos – which Brophy does.
“It’s not your client’s return,” Cardi B said of the image featuring a Black model. Brophy is white. The rapper pointed out that she posted a photo of the “famous Canadian model” on her social media.
“It wasn’t him,” she continued. “To me, it doesn’t look like his back at all. The tattoo has been modified, protected by the First Amendment.”
Cardi B says the image doesn’t hinder Brophy’s work with a popular skate and surf clothing brand and his ability to travel the world in search of opportunities.
“He hasn’t been fired from his job yet,” said the rapper, who hinted that the mixtape isn’t a lucrative deal for her. “He’s not divorced. How has he suffered? He’s still at a surf shop at this job. Please tell me how he’s suffered.”
Last month, Cardi B pleaded guilty in a criminal case stemming from an altercation at a New York City strip club that cost her 15 days of community service. Earlier this year, the rapper was awarded $1.25 million in a defamation lawsuit against a popular news blogger who posted false videos saying she used cocaine, contracted herpes and engaged into prostitution.
