A few months ago Baauer was close to preparing for battle, in the courtroom. Two separate parties were threatening to sue over uncleared samples used in the ‘Harlem Shake‘ track. Thankfully, Diplo and the Mad Decent label were able to reach out to those involved and receive approval. Money talks.
Brought to the public’s attention yesterday, it appears Baauer is coming under attack again, this time from a photographer. According to reports, Baauer reached out to Dustin Kessler, asking to use two photos. One for Baauer’s Facebook account, the other for a magazine article. After the legal use of these two photos, Dustin Kessler, noticed that his pictures started popping up in a number of publications, including Rolling Stone, Billboard, Spin, and even Coachella advertisements. The illegal use is upsetting to Kessler for justified reasons; he received no recognition or money for these shots. 
After consulting with one of our own photographers, Georgia Modi, there seem to be a few ways this could pan out. The picture taken from Facebook clearly violates the agreement between Kessler and Baauer. The other photo, used in a magazine article, may have been taken by the other publications without reaching out to Kessler or notifying anyone in Baauer’s camp. In which case those magazines, or websites are at fault.
Dustin Kessler is covering his bases by not only suing Baauer, but bringing legal action upon the other publications as well. Kessler is asking for an undisclosed settlement figure, and if necessary, a trial by jury. Nothing seems to fall solely on the hands of Baauer, but none the less, this issue may not be going away. The agreement between Kessler and Baauer is unclear, and at this time no party has acknowledged where permission came from, if any. Still in its infancy, many questions must be answered, right now it’s a little speculative.
One thing is for certain though, money talks.
Haha hope you received permission to use the above photo.
Doesn’t Bauuer have the right to use any picture taken of him without permission of anyone?
This seems like a stupid question but I’m going ask it anyways. Can we see the pictures in question?
well then how did he get the photo? or did he steal his film too.
Depending on the licensing of the photo, Baauer could/should be in the clear. I’d guess that the photo issue will be a lot smaller than the music sample issue(s)…. Le sigh… every one wants their “cut” once something goes popular…
Depending on the licensing of the photo, Baauer could/should be in the clear. I’d guess that the photo issue will be a lot smaller than the music sample issue(s)…. Le sigh… every one wants their “cut” once something goes popular…
Honestly I think people just want money so freaking badly they’ll do anything to get.
“omg my unimportant little photo is on a magazine and I didn’t know!, Better sue!”
Why not just be happy that the magazine liked your photo enough to use it in the first place.
People really worry and get upset over extremely petty/stupid things.