Justin Bieber ‘sued’ for sharing paparazzi photo of himself on Instagram

Lawsuit comes days after Jennifer Lopez was sued for copyright infringement over a paparazzi photo

(Getty Images)

Justin Bieber is reportedly being sued for sharing a paparazzi photograph of himself on Instagram.

According to court documents obtained by E! News, photographer Robert Barbera has filed a lawsuit against the “Sorry” singer for copyright infringement over an image of his that Bieber posted in March.

The photo shows Bieber and his friend Rich Wilkerson peering out of a car while the caption reads: “Me and my guy @richwilkersonjr” with no credit to the photographer.

In the court documents, Barbera claims that Bieber is guilty of "unauthorized reproduction and public display" of his photography and alleges that the singer did not have his consent to post the photo on Instagram, where Bieber has more than 120 million followers.

The post in question remains live on Bieber’s account and has accrued more than 3.9 million likes and thousands of comments from fans.

The lawsuit comes after Jennifer Lopez was sued for $150,000 (£116,595) for copyright infringement over a paparazzi photo.

The photo, which showed Lopez holding hands with her fiance, American baseball star Alex Rodriguez, in New York City, was shared on the singer's Instagram account in 2017

Carissa Kendall-Windless, a senior associate at EIP, a leading intellectual property law firm in London, explains that re-posting other people's photographs on Instagram Stories can be complex.

“In instances where the photograph is used in physical print, in a glossy magazine deal, for instance, one would expect higher fees," Kendall-Windless said.

"However, Instagram is slightly different. Since [Lopez's] photo was posted on an Instagram story, which only lasts 24 hours, it becomes harder to calculate how much 'damage' the plaintiff is entitled to. Arguably, the author would still have been able to sell the photograph to publishing houses in full resolution and with a degree of permanency.”

A representative for Bieber provided no comment when approached by The Independent.