Jay-Z Sues ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Photographer For Exploiting His Name + Likeness

Jay-Z isn’t too happy with celebrity photographer Jonathan Mannion, the man who shot the infamous Reasonable Doubt cover.

TMZ reports that Hov is suing Mannion and his company, Jonathan Mannion Photography LLC, “claiming Mannion’s exploiting Jay-Z’s name and image without the rapper’s consent. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Jay says Mannion has Hova’s name and likeness plastered all over his website and sells photos of Jay-Z for thousands of dollars.”

TMZ continues, “Jay-Z says he never gave Mannion permission to do so — and he claims when he asked Mannion to quit using his image, the photog demanded tens of millions of dollars. Jay claims Mannion is making an “arrogant assumption that because he took those photographs, he can do with them as he pleases.”

Mannion and his lawyers have responded as well:

“A rep for Mannion tells us, “Mr. Mannion has created iconic images of Mr. Carter over the years, and is proud that these images have helped to define the artist that Jay-Z is today. Mr. Mannion has the utmost respect for Mr. Carter and his body of work, and expects that Mr. Carter would similarly respect the rights of artists and creators who have helped him achieve the heights to which he has ascended. We are confident that the First Amendment protects Mr. Mannion’s right to sell fine art prints of his copyrighted works, and will review the complaint and respond in due course.”

I’m sure this will get resolved sooner than later. What’s your take on this situation?