Cam’ron has been ordered to pay over $50,000 to the photographer who captured his iconic pink fur photo in 2003 after he used it on his own merch without paying for the licensing.
According to Billboard, Judge William Martini ruled Thursday (February 15) that the Dipset rapper committed copyright infringement and must pay Djamilla Cochran $40,530 in statutory damages, plus the $10,691 that Cochran spent to bring the lawsuit.
It was apparently an easy win, as Cam never even responded to the complaint. It’s also a pretty pricey loss that could been avoided, as he would have only had to pay a $5,790 licensing fee to Getty Images to use the image on commercial products.
As previously reported, photographer Djamilla Rosa Cochran filed a lawsuit against the Harlem rapper and Dipset Couture LLC in 2023 for copyright infringement, claiming she owns the copyright to the image.
The photo in question was taken at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in February 2003 and shows Cam’ron wearing a pink fur coat and matching hat while holding a pink flip phone.
“Defendant Dipset Couture LLC, without permission or authorization from Plaintiff, actively copied and displayed the Photograph on the Website as part of various product listings (‘Merchandise Listings’) and engaged in this misconduct knowingly and in violation of the United States copyright laws,” the lawsuit read.
“Getty Images notified defendants of their infringing activities by mail and email on multiple occasions. Despite those notifications, defendants continued to sell merchandise and continued to display the photograph on website and accounts.”
During an appearance on Kevin Durant’s Boardroom podcast last February, Cam’ron talked about the origins of the coat and how much his Fashion Week appearance put it on the map.
“I purchased that jacket probably 20 years ago at a store called Apollo Signature in Harlem on 125th Street,” he said. “[I’ve worn it] maybe three [times]. I haven’t worn it a lot. You know, it got a lot of attention. I bought it to wear to Fashion Week one year and after that it got wild attention so I put it away.
“The coat got its own personality — people wanna put it in museums. People call me, ‘Could you bring it with you?’ ‘We’re having a fur exhibition, can you bring your jacket?’ ‘We’re doing a Hip Hop museum, we wanna put it in there, can we run it?’”
He added: “So, the fur comes out once in a while if it make sense. But you know, for the Drake show being at the Apollo, I thought it would be cool to bring out.”
