B.B. King’s Estate Faces Lawsuit from Photographer

Copyright infringement lawsuit creates additional issues in settling estate of famed musician.

There often seems to be confusion in settling the estates of celebrities and a lawsuit filed recently against the estate of B.B. King adds his estate to the list as Billboard reports in “B.B. King Estate, Universal Music Sued By Photographer.”

King is known to have fathered at least 15 children by 15 different women. It is going to be difficult to sort out who gets what. With that battle underway the last thing the estate needed was to face a lawsuit.

Photographer Glen Craig alleges that pictures he took have been used without permission on King’s albums since 1971. The pictures have been used on several different albums, including those that have come out within the last year.

Craig is suing King’s estate and Universal Music Group, which produces King’s albums.

At this time there is very little detail available about the lawsuit, but it should be cause for great concern for the estate. The penalties for copyright infringement can be very high.

Reference: Billboard (July 11, 2016) “B.B. King Estate, Universal Music Sued By Photographer.”