As of today (July 14), the official YouTube account for Top Dawg Entertainment has been terminated.
A visit to the label’s YouTube page yields the following message: “Top Dawg Entertainment has been terminated because we received multiple third-party claims of copyright infringement regarding material the user posted.”
Although YouTube doesn’t list the specific copyright infringement claims, Kendrick Lamar did recently find himself at the center of a lawsuit from an Italian photographer.
According to court documents obtained this month, the photographer, Giordano Cipriani claims that Kendrick used his photograph of a woman breastfeeding for his “The Blacker The Berry” cover art without his permission.
Cipriani is suing Kendrick Lamar, Top Dawg Entertainment, Interscope Records, and Aftermath Records, and is seeking lawyer fees and $150,000 for each time the photograph has been used.
With the entire Top Dawg Entertainment YouTube account suspended as opposted to solely Kendrick’s “The Blacker The Berry” video, it’s unclear if Cipriani’s lawsuit is the sole reason for the suspension.
The YouTube suspension has yet to be addressed by anyone at Top Dawg Entertainment.
I’m pretty sure it was UMG/Vevo. TDE had to take off the Backseat Freestyle video back in 2013, it shortly reappeared on Kendrick’s Vevo channel
So let me get this straight….that photo is worth 150k? Fuck outta here..this dude just trying to claim a quick buck
That’s the actual law–for willful copyright infringement, it’s $150k per use–plus you can sue for damages.
Kendrick and TDE stay losing. Drake and his woes at OVO stay winning. #DrakeIsLoveDrakeIsLife
Wrong.
GTFOHWTBS