Photos in a Similar Style Aren't Copyright-Infringing–Woodland vs. Lil Nas X

The court summarizes the case: Rodney Woodland, a freelance artist and model, posts semi-naked photographs of himself in different poses on Instagram. Montero Lamar Hill, better known as the recording artist Lil Nas X, also has an Instagram account—and he, too, shares semi-naked photos of himself in varying poses (as one apparently does on Instagram these days). I will note, to the relief of everyone, that I have not posted semi-naked (or Full Monty) photos of myself to Instagram, social media, or anywhere else. I guess that makes me old-school. The court displayed all of the photos side-by-side, so of course we’re going to look at them. As you’ll see shortly, Woodland’s photos often strategically hide his goodies but put most everything else on display. So I think this is a SFW post. Regarding Woodland’s posts, the court adds: The photos at issue were posted on his Instagram account between August 2018 and July 2021. Each of Woodland’s twelve posts garnered between eight and seve ... Read full article.