Rapper Rod Wave sued by photographer over use of photo for album cover

The rapper known as Rod Wave is facing a federal copyright lawsuit over the use of a photograph for the cover of his 2024 album “Last Lap.”

Photographer Allan Salas filed the lawsuit against the rapper, whose legal name is Rodarius Marcell Green, in a federal court in California last month, court documents show.

The lawsuit said Salas expected his damages to exceed $150,000, citing the commercial success of the album and tour and alleging willful and bad-faith conduct.

The dispute stems from a photograph Salas took of Green on August 24, 2024, while the rapper was performing at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

Salas was authorized to be at the arena to take photos of Green during this concert but never transferred any rights and was never paid for the photograph used for the album cover, he alleged in the lawsuit. The album was then released with the photo used as the cover on October 11, 2024.

In his lawsuit, Salas also named Alamo Records and Sony Music Entertainment as defendants for using the image on various merchandise and promotional materials for the album’s concert tour despite allegedly knowing the rights to the image belonged to him.

“Despite being advised that Mr. Salas owned the photograph, neither Green, Alamo, nor Sony attempted to contact Mr. Salas, nor did they attempt to obtain his permission or a license from him to use the photograph,” the lawsuit reads.

Under his stage name Rod Wave, Green debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with “Last Lap,” earning about 127,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, driven almost entirely by streaming, according to Billboard.

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