Notorious B.I.G.'s Estate Sues Target, Home Depot for Selling Unauthorized Prints to 'Capitalize on His Fame'
The Notorious B.I.G.'s estate and photographer Barron Claiborne are suing Target and Home Depot for selling unauthorized prints of Claiborne's iconic "King of New York" photo without permission.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, February 4, Notorious BIG LLC purports the retailers sold prints illegally created by iCanvas. The lawsuit claims the stores showed a "complete disregard for celebrities' personality rights, lack of respect for artists' efforts, and disdain for intellectual property law."
Per Billboard, "Defendants specifically chose to use Mr. Wallace's persona, name, image, likeness... in an attempt to capitalize on their fame and extraordinary financial value."
Both the estate and Claiborne claim the retailers sold prints of the image for more than eight years. Bed Bath & Beyond and Nordstrom were also included in the lawsuit.
"Mr. Wallace's fan base has continued to expand since his passing," the estate's lawyers said. "Mr. Wallace's persona, name, image, likeness, and artistic works are so well known that they are almost universally and instantly recognizable, even by those born after he died."
The image in question is Biggie's famous "King of New York" portrait, where he wears a plastic gold crown in front of a red backdrop. The picture was taken three days before Biggie was gunned down in Los Angeles in March 1997. That $6 crown, according to Claiborne's lawsuit, sold for roughly $595,000 at a Sotheby's auction in 2020, Complex reported.
iCanvas also allegedly sells unauthorized prints of Prince, Jay-Z, Snoop Dog, LL Cool J., and Beyoncé, according to VIBE.
