Robin Thicke has reached a private settlement to resolve a lawsuit that claimed he posted paparazzi pictures of himself on Instagram without paying to license the images.
Attorneys for celebrity photo agency BackGrid USA told a federal judge in a court filing last week that they reached a “settlement in principle” with Thicke two months after suing the singer and music producer for copyright infringement.
BackGrid’s lawyers say in the Aug. 22 court notice they are “working on executing a longform settlement agreement” and intend to dismiss the lawsuit against Thicke “after certain conditions are satisfied.” The terms of the agreement have not been made public.
The June lawsuit took issue with two paparazzi shots Thicke posted to his Instagram in 2022. The posts, which have since been deleted, showed Thicke riding shotgun in a convertible and leaving a restaurant with his now-wife, April Love Geary.
BackGrid claimed that because it owns the rights to both these photos, Thicke was required to pay for licenses before sharing them on social media. But the agency said Thicke did not license the photos and therefore violated copyright law.
The lawsuit sought a financial penalty from Thicke. BackGrid did not specify how much money it wanted Thicke to pay, but the company said it “suffered substantial economic damage” from Thicke’s alleged infringement.
Reps for BackGrid and Thicke did not immediately return request for comment about the settlement on Wednesday (Aug. 27).
Thicke is far from the first celebrity to get dragged into court over paparazzi photos in social media posts. Artists including Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa and Justin Bieber have all faced similar lawsuits in the last few years.
As in the case of Thicke, celebrities tend to settle these claims rather than fight them out. This is likely because U.S. copyright law is on the side of photographers and image licensers; being the subject of a camera lens does not give a person automatic ownership over a photograph or carte blanche to repost it for free.
