Rihanna is awaiting a new lawsuit based on a video she posted on Instagram this spring to promote her FENTY fashion brand. According to a complaint filed by Arish Ahmad Khan, professionally known as King Khan, and Sabaa Louise Ahmad Khan, better known as Saba Lou, to a federal court in California on Tuesday, Rihanna is on the hook for copyright infringement after allegedly kidnapping a song she were written and recorded by the prosecutors of the two father and daughter, which she used in the “ad” FENTY.
In the newly filed appeal, Berlin-based musicians Arish Ahmad Khan and Sabaa Louise Ahmad Khan claim that Rihanna and a number of other defendants whom Khans “have not yet identified, [but] who violated [their] copyright, contributed to copyright infringement [their] copyright, or engaged in one or more of the alleged improper practices here, “used a recording of their song” Good Habits (and Bad) “in” at least one video ad on social media for FENTY brand accessories, “which” received extensive engagement, collecting over 3,400,000 views and over 10,000 comments on Instagram. “
Without seeking or obtaining their permission to use the song, Rihanna “intentionally copied, reproduced, performed, and distributed significant portions [their] recording a song for money. “” By recording the sound of an entire video that infringes copyright with parts [their] song and publishing the same to the public “, and thus” creating a copyrighted work “from the copyrighted (and registered)” composition and recording “of their song, Khans claims that the brand musician-slash-fashion / beauty owner violated the federal copyright law. ”
Not only did Rihanna and the other unnamed defendants allegedly “make direct and indirect profits that they would not otherwise have made, but because of the violation [the Khans] song rights, ”such an alleged unauthorized use of the song in a video Rihanna posted on her personal Instagram in May 2020 caused them to suffer“ general and special harm ”.
Pointing to specific requirements to prove copyright infringement, Khans claims that defendants, including Rihanna, used an “identical” version of the song and “accessed the song online via a streaming portal,” such as “Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio or some other source. “
With the foregoing in mind, Khans alleges that the defendants committed a copyright infringement that was “intentional, intentional and malicious, which the subjects [them] to liability for legal damages under section 504 (c) (2) of the Copyright Act in the amount of up to $ 150,000.00 for infringement and / or obstruction to identify certain unfair and other defenses. ”
In addition to Rihanna herself, the Khans claim that other as-yet-unnamed defendants are on the hook for “consciously introducing[ing], participated[ing] u, help[ing] and support[ing] and profit[ing] from the illegal reproduction and distribution of a song, ”including by publishing a video containing a song obtained from third parties that the accused (s) know or should know that the accused (s) cannot publish; posting infringing videos on affiliated sites, third-party sites, and social networks; and distribution of infringing videos to third parties for further publication. “As such, these defendants are ‘surrogates responsible for breaking the law’ allegedly committed by Rihanna.
In addition to pecuniary damage, the Khans seek a court injunction to ban Rihanna and associates. from infringement of their copyright and “an order requiring defendants to remove any content containing a song, in whole or in part, from any social media, web or other publication owned, operated or controlled by any person [of the] accused. ”
*The case is Arish Ahmad Khan, p / k / a “King Khan”, and Sabaa Louise Ahmad Khan, p / k / a “Saba Lou” against Robyn Rihanna Fenty, and MAKES 1 to 10, 2: 20-cv- 11555 ( CDCal.).