The Tamesis
A copyright lawsuit that briefly pitted Drake and an Italian photographer on a collision course is now over and done with.
National Geographic photographer Gabriele Galimberti has withdrawn her photo of the rapper in “What Did I Miss?” according to recent court documents filed by him. 》Copyright infringement lawsuit over the use of visual effects in a music video. billboard.
The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled.
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Galimberti filed a lawsuit against Drake last November, alleging that a scene in the video was plagiarized from americanhis 2020 photography project documenting American gun culture. Photos and video scenes show men posing around a swimming pool, guns arranged in a deliberately symmetrical manner.
The lawsuit involves Drake (whose legal name is Aubrey Drake Graham), Universal Music Group and Republic Records.
The dismissal appears to have hinged more on a procedural failure than a dramatic court showdown. according to digital music news, Court records show that Galimberti’s legal team did not provide adequate service to Drake or the other defendants, a failure that ultimately caused the case to collapse before it could progress.
No settlement has been disclosed, and neither party has publicly commented on whether money has changed hands.
When the lawsuit was first filed, it attracted significant attention because of the subtext at play that Galimberti claimed was at work. His complaint alleges that Drake intentionally mentioned american This is because the photographer has been involved in the widely condemned 2022 Balenciaga ad campaign in the past, which sparked a backlash over allegations of child sexualization.
Galimberti argued in the filing that Drake was trying to mirror his own public defense amid the controversy surrounding Drake’s feud with Kendrick Lamar. This discord is important here. Lamar’s diss song “Not Like Us” labeled Drake a “certified pedophile,” prompting Drake to file a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group. A federal judge dismissed the case last fall, ruling that the rap battle lyrics were construed as exaggerations rather than statements of fact, a ruling that Drake is now appealing.
With Galimberti’s case now permanently settled, Drake ends the skirmish with a clean legal victory, even as broader questions about appropriation, references, and cultural signaling in music videos continue to simmer beneath the surface of the industry’s copyright battle, including Drake’s ongoing calls for limits on artistic expression in rap wars.
