Drake is once again at the center of a legal issue and this time; it involves an Italian photographer. Per and exclusive report from Grouchy Greg Watkins of AllHipHop, the Canadian superstar is facing a federal copyright lawsuit from Gabriele Galimberti, an acclaimed contributor for National Geographic and a World Press Photo winner.
He’s suing Drake, aka Aubrey Graham, as well as OVO Sound, Republic Records, Universal Music Group, and unnamed defendants. Specifically, Galimberti is accusing the rapper of “direct” infringement over an image used in the “What Did I Miss?” music video.
Galimberti points to shots that include the meticulous layout of guns starting around the 14-second mark of the visual. The photographer claims that Drake blatantly ripped off his “Ameriguns” portrait down to the very last detail including its symbolism.
In his filing he says that people online started tagging him with Drake’s video attached prior to him hearing about it himself. As a result, Galimberti’s legal team put together a side-by-side of one of his similar “Amerigun” photos to Drizzy’s shot in the video with the guns sprawled out by a pool.
As a result, Galimberti is arguing that this implies they worked together on this despite no sort of agreement.
Drake “What Did I Miss?” Lawsuit
Moreover, he claims Drake purposely released “What Did I Miss?” around July 4 to bolster the association with the themes.
Lastly and interestingly, Galimberti believes Drake was trying to connect himself to false pedophilia claims that also plagued him. For the photographer, it stemmed from a Balenciaga ad. But unlike the MC, he won his defamation case; however, the photos take for the luxury brand were still tied to that debacle.
“Given Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics directed as calling Defendant Graham a pedophile and Defendant Graham’s now dismissed defamation lawsuit, on information and belief, Defendant Graham sought to imply that he, like Plaintiff, would be publicly exonerated.” That comes form Galimberti’s lawyer, Heather L. Blaise.
He’s seeking damages, profits, and an injunction stopping further distribution of the video. It’s worth noting that Galimberti has been taking shots for this “Ameriguns” collection for a few years now. You can find his work for it here.