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Legal
Photographer disputes claims of Contra model
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 21 July 2010
The photographer who snapped the model who appears on the cover of the Vampire Weekend album ‘Contra’ has called allegations he forged said model’s signature on a clearance form “blatantly false”.
As previously reported, the now former model Ann Kirsten Kennis says that snapper Tod Brody forged her signature on a document that gave her permission for the photo – actually taken in 1983 – to be used on the artwork and marketing literature on and for the Vampire Weekend album. She is suing the photographer as well as the band and their label. The claim against the band and XL Recordings is based on the argument they should have checked whether the signature on the clearance form was legitimate.
Kennis also alleges that Brody didn’t even take the photo. She says the picture was taken by her mother, who may have subsequently sold a load of her photos at a charity bazaar, which is possibly how Brody ended up with it in his possession. That claim is important because it might mean Kennis can sue Brody under copyright law. But the photographer told Entertainment Weekly last week: “Ms Kennis’s claim that I didn’t take the photo is blatantly false. I took the photo in 1983. The photo was in my possession the entire time, for 26 years, until it was delivered to Vampire Weekend”.
XL insist that, whatever dispute there might be between Kennis and Brody, they formally licensed the rights to use the photo, and did so in a responsible way. Saying in a statement: “As is standard practice, Vampire Weekend and XL Recordings licensed the rights to use the photo on the cover of ‘Contra’ pursuant to a license agreement that contains representations and warranties authorising this use of the photo. Now that a lawsuit has been filed, we look forward to having the matter resolved in court”.
Meanwhile, speaking to the NME, Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig said Kennis’s lawsuit was “frustrating”, adding: “This is the first time any of us has ever been sued, so we’re still learning how it works. Given we have no experience of it we’re just keeping conversations to a journal for now”.
