Popular band's frontman sued over 2019 post urging hurricane relief donations
Global Weather Productions LLC, a video licensing company, sued Levine over a 2019 Instagram post that sought donations for victims of Hurricane Dorian, Billboard reported.
In a federal copyright infringement lawsuit filed Monday, July 28, a copyright owner claimed Levine didn't get permission to share a video showing the storm's damage to the Bahamas.
The video, which was included in Levine's post on Sept. 6, 2019, showed Hurricane Dorian's damage to the Abacos Islands. The video appeared to have been pulled from a CNN broadcast with the footage being credited to Brandon Clement, an aerial cinematographer behind the popular storm chasing website WxChasing.
However, Global Weather Productions alleges it owns the footage and said Levine didn't buy a license to publish it.
'As a musician and author, defendant has significant experience in copyright matters and is familiar with specific practices including the need to ensure that content used in his posts has been properly licensed,' the company wrote in the lawsuit, per Billboard. 'As a content creator himself, defendant should be particularly sensitive to the unauthorized use of his works.'
Global Weather Productions further claimed that Levine 'failed to respond' to their efforts to resolve the matter, according to Billboard. The video company is now seeking damages for Levine's supposed copyright infringement, which could go as high as $150,000.
'Over the last couple weeks, there have been a staggering number of environmental disasters occurring around the world. It is now more important than ever to step up and help,' the caption of Levine's post read, which urged followers to donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
'The President has recently proposed huge cuts in aid to disaster relief; we are making donations and asking you to help us improve the health of our planet overall,' Levine wrote. 'Head to the link in my bio to donate to Amazon Conservation. Support the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to help the Bahamas and Carolinas with their efforts to combat Dorian. People around the world need our help!'
Global Weather Productions has been on a copyright litigation spree in recent years, filing dozens of lawsuits against publishers of supposedly unlicensed natural disaster videos since 2023, Billboard reported. Some of the company's other targets include new organizations such as Reuters, Univision and NewsNation, as well as individual content creators including model Molly Sims.
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