Jay-Z’s found himself in some major lawsuits in recent times. Last year, he and Barcardi became involved in a highly contentious legal battle. Later on, he made headlines due to his high-profile legal battle with Parlux. However, he’s also had to deal with a courtroom spat with Jonathan Mannion, the legendary photographer behind some of Jay’s most iconic album artworks.
Hov sued Mannion for using his image, name and likeness without permission. The rapper claimed that Mannion and his company Jonathan Mannion Photography LLC sold prints of Jay for thousands of dollars on his website. However, Jay’s attorneys approached him in an attempt to stop the sales, Mannion demanded millions of dollars.
According to All Hip Hop, the two reached an agreement ahead of the March trial date. In court documents, the two parties said are working “diligently” to finalize the agreement. Now, they’ll have until Feb. 17th to submit it to court.
“Parties have engaged in settlement discussions and agreed in principle on the terms of the settlement, which includes a stipulated dismissal of this action, subject to execution of a long-form settlement agreement,” the document reads.
In the initial complaint, Jay said that Mannion acted as if he could sell photos of Jay-Z freely. “It is 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. It stops today,” the court doc read. However, Mannion later responded with on a more positive note.
At this point, there aren’t any specifics surrounding the settlements. However, we’ll keep you posted on anymore updates surrounding the case.