Miley Cyrus is being sued by a paparazzo for posting a photo of herself on Instagram without his permission.
Robert Barbera, who snapped the pic in February 2020, filed a lawsuit in California against the singer on Friday alleging copyright infringement.
“The photograph was copied, stored and displayed without license or permission, thereby infringing on plaintiff’s copyrights,” reads the statement of claim. Barbera claimed that by sharing it with her millions of followers, Cyrus “crippled if not destroyed” his ability to earn money from it.
Reps for Cyrus have not commented on the lawsuit.
With few exceptions, anyone's picture can be taken where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy – and, under copyright law, ownership of the photo is retained by the person who took the picture.
The singer was sued in New York in 2020 by Chosen Figure for sharing a photo on Instagram without the photographer's permission. The outcome of that case is not known.
In June, Barbera filed a similar lawsuit against Dua Lipa, claiming she used pics he took on her Instagram in 2018. The case is pending.
He previously sued Ariana Grande in 2019 and 2020 but both lawsuits were dismissed. A 2019 lawsuit against Justin Bieber was reportedly settled out of court.