Who is Backgrid, USA?

According to the lawsuit referenced above filed against Twitter in 2022:

Backgrid is the world's premier celebrity-related photograph agency and provides highly sought-after images of celebrities around the world to top news and lifestyle outlets. Its photographs increase the sales of its customers' magazines and newspapers and increase their website traffic and website viewer engagement.

Backgrid's photographs are regularly licensed by People magazine, the Huffington Post, the Daily Mail, TMZ, US Weekly, Radar Online, Harper's Bazaar, Entertainment Tonight, Vogue, Elle magazine, and many other publications. Backgrid owns all rights to the Celebrity Photographs, each of which was timely registered with the United States Copyright Office.

A list of the copyright registrations for the Celebrity Photographs known to have been infringed is attached as Exhibit A. Due to Defendant's continuing infringements and refusal to adopt and reasonably implement a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) repeat infringer policy, the number of timely registered infringements on its Twitter platform and the damages for which Defendant is responsible is continually increasing. Backgrid seeks to recover for all such infringements whether they are specifically alleged herein or not.

For valuable consideration, Backgrid and/or AKM-GSI Media, Inc. (“AKM-GSI”), the predecessor in interest to certain Celebrity Photographs, have licensed, and Backgrid continues to license, the rights to reproduce, distribute, and publicly display the Celebrity Photographs and make derivative versions thereof, to hundreds of magazines, newspapers, television stations, and other media outlets throughout the world.

According to their website:

Our contributor pool includes over 1,000 photographers from around the world. Our sales reach spans over 60 countries across five continents. Each week, we produce over 20,000 high-quality, fully tagged photos and videos. We have the industry's highest sales conversion rate for premium content.........Powerhouse agencies Xposure, AKM-GSI and FameFlynet U.S.A. joined forces to create BACKGRID, the World's largest celebrity content agency.

BackGrid is represented by One LLP

Backgrid Sues Lisa Rinna for $1.2 Million in a Lawsuit for Posting Paparazzi Photos of Herself and Daughters Delilah & Amelia Hamlin in 2021.

Here is another case filed by Backgrid against Lisa Rinna in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Allegations in complaint

Above is a photo of Lisa, which was posted on her LisaRinna Instagram page, where she now has over 3.7 million followers.

The complaint, now settled, contained some of the following allegations.

• Among many other in-demand photographs, Backgrid owns covetedphotographs of actress, author, and television personality Lisa Rinna (hereinafter the “Rinna Photographs”). Rinna is best known for her roles as Billie Reed on theNBC daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives” and Taylor McBride on Fox's television drama “Melrose Place.”
• Since 2014, Rinna has been a cast member on Bravo's hit reality television series “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” and she has also been a contestant on NBC's “The Celebrity Apprentice” and ABC's “Dancing with the Stars.” All rights, title and interest in the Rinna Photographs (the photographs at issue in this case), including but not limited to the copyrights thereon, are owned by Backgrid.
• On information and belief, Defendant Rinna operates an Instagram account located at https://www.instagram.com/lisarinna.
• On information and belief, Rinna uses the Instagram account to promote her brand and celebrity by delivering content featuring herself to her fans. To date, Rinna has at least 2.7 million fans who receive instant updates to her account when she posts photographs. Each posted photograph elicits thousands, and frequently, hundreds of thousands of comments from fans. Moreover, the account is not private, so anyone, including those who do not “follow” her account, has access and can view the uploaded photographs, including the photographs at issue in this lawsuit.
• Rinna violated federal law by willfully infringing Backgrid's copyrights to at least eight photographs on, at least, Rinna's Instagram account.
• Most of the photographs are embossed with a Backgrid watermark.
• Moreover, Rinna induced, caused, or materially contributed to the reproduction, distribution and public display of the Rinna Photographs and derivatives thereof, all while knowing or having reason to know of the infringement on her account that was without permission, consent, or license.
• By uploading the Rinna photographs to the account, Rinna encourages her fans to “share” the photographs, thus causing others to also willfully infringe and multiplying the harm to Backgrid.
• On information and belief, Rinna operates and controls her Instagram account at all times relevant to this dispute and financially benefits from the infringement of the Rinna Photographs displayed thereto.
• Rinna uses her Instagram account to promote her beauty supply company, the reality television show forwhich she is a cast member, and her daughters' modeling careers, among other things.
• On information and belief, Rinna has driven significant traffic to her Instagram account in large part due to the presence of the sought-after and searched-for Rinna photographs that frame this dispute.
• All of this traffic translates into substantial ill-gotten commercial advantage and brand awareness as a direct consequence of their infringing actions.
• On or around February 5, 2021, Backgrid sent a demand letter to Rinna's attorney regarding this dispute. The parties were unable to resolve this dispute, forcing Backgrid to incur the cost and expense of litigation.

Defending Photo Infringement Cases

Here are some general tips to consider when faced with defending against companies like Backgrid in photo infringement matters:

1. As you can see, you can get into legal trouble even by posting images of YOURSELF. The photographer owns the image, so there is no guaranteed free ride to post your own image.
2. Before you post third-party-owned images, always see if you can find a way to create a fair use defense. For example, comment on and criticize the image, use it for educational purposes, and avoid monetary uses to the extent possible.
3. If you receive a cease and desist demand letter, try to work it out. Going to court can be very expensive, and it becomes a public event (since federal court filings can easily be found on the internet). Of course, for celebrities like Rinna, likely the "no press is bad press" rule applies, as she appeared to get a lot of mileage out of this online.
4. Make sure to see if they have registered the images at issue with the United States Copyright Office. This is a prerequisite to filing suit. If not, this can be a useful negotiation bargaining chip.

Best of luck navigating these issues, as photo infringement cases can be tricky given the ability of the rights holder to seek statutory damages and potentially attorney fees upon prevailing.