Drake has been accused of copyright infringement in connection with the video for his Iceman-era track “What Did I Miss?”
In a complaint filed in a California court on Nov. 12 and viewed by Complex, photographer Gabriele Galimberti alleges that imagery in the video—specifically, the arrangement of guns on the ground with Drake on the right side of the frame—constitutes “an unauthorized copy” of his own THE AMERIGUNS project.
AMERIGUNS as detailed in the docs, features portraits of firearm owners posing with their guns. In 2021, the project led to Galimberti being honored with the World Press Photo award.
“This lawsuit concerns Defendants’ willful, brazen, and extensive unlawful infringement of Plaintiff’s exclusive copyright in his photographic portrait image contained within the project entitled THE AMERIGUNS, which was created by Plaintiff, Gabriele Galimberti,” lawyers for the Italian photographer write in the 13-page complaint. “That Galimberti’s iconic and highly distinctive photography style embodied in the Original Work was lifted by Defendants to set the scene of the music video for the song ‘What Did I Miss?’ is both an egregious violation of federal law and an affront to Plaintiff, his livelihood, his legacy, and to photographers everywhere.”
The complaint goes on to argue that the firearm imagery in Drake’s video “is so clearly a copy” that associations were quickly made between the two works on social media. Deeper into the docs, Galimberti’s lawyers further argue that this is “particularly troubling for several reasons,” pointing to the photographer’s involvement with a Balenciaga campaign that was made the subject of “false allegations of glorifying pedophilia.” Galimberti, in fact, claims that the controversy and his ultimate vindication were key in the messaging behind Drake’s video.
This leads to a mention of Drake’s own legal action involving Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” diss, like so:
“Plaintiff was ultimately publicly vindicated in a defamation lawsuit abroad related to the false accusations arising from the Balenciaga advertisement. During the initial Balenciaga scandal, media articles, websites, posts, and news segments would display Plaintiff’s photographs from THE AMERIGUNS Project alongside Plaintiff’s photos from the Balenciaga ad. Given Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics directed as calling Defendant Graham a pedophile and Defendant Graham’s now dismissed defamation lawsuit, on information and belief, Defendant Graham sought to imply that he, like Plaintiff, would be publicly exonerated.”
Galimberti is seeking damages for what he says is a “forced and unauthorized association” of his work with Drake’s video, which he believes has negatively impacted “the integrity of his work and his reputation.”
Complex has reached out to reps for Drake for comment. This story may be updated. Also named as defendants in the complaint are OVO Sound, Republic Records, and Universal Music Group.