Italian photographer sues Drake copyright infringement lawsuit

Photo Credit: Galimberti v. Graham

Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti sues Drake over a famous scene in a music video that he claims infringes on his work.

Drake can’t seem to go a month without a new lawsuit, either filed by or against the “Certified Lover Boy.” The latest comes from an Italian photographer who claims Drake’s “What Did I Miss?” music video ripped off his work—and that in doing so, the rapper was intentionally trying to connect his ongoing feud with Kendrick Lamar to a controversial Balenciaga campaign.

Filed on Wednesday (November 12) in federal court, the copyright infringement claim alleges that a famous shot in Drake’s “What Did I Miss?” video lifts significantly from a photograph in Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti’s 2020 book, The Ameriguns. Both show men standing outside a house near a swimming pool surrounded by firearms laid out at equal distances from one another.

Galimberti is a photographer for National Geographic, but was “publicly vilified for his role in a controversial Balenciaga advertisement involving false allegations of glorifying pedophilia” in 2022. That campaign drew enormous backlash, both for the fashion house and the photographer.

According to the filing, Drake’s reference to the Galimberti photo is itself a reference to Kendrick Lamar calling Drake a “certified pedophile” in his chart-topping diss track, “Not Like Us.” That song and its immense popularity led Drake to sue Universal Music Group (UMG)—but not Lamar—for defamation.

“[Galimberti] was ultimately publicly vindicated in a defamation lawsuit abroad related to the false accusations arising from the Balenciaga advertisement,” his attorney writes. “Given Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics, […] calling [Drake] a pedophile and [Drake’s] now dismissed defamation lawsuit, […] [Drake] sought to imply that he, like [Galimberti], would be publicly exonerated.”

Drake’s lawsuit against UMG was dismissed last month, but the rapper is appealing to revive it. UMG is the parent of both Lamar’s label, Interscope, and Drake’s label, Republic. Republic and UMG are both defendants in Galimberti’s lawsuit, alongside Drake and his company OVO Sound.

Galimberti is seeking damages as well as an injunction to prevent further infringement (presumably by removing the video or editing it to remove the reference in question), and any further relief as deemed appropriate by the court.