Drake and 21 Savage settle lawsuit over fake Vogue cover
Written by worldOneFm on February 17, 2023
Drake and 21 Savage have settled their copyright infringement lawsuit with Condé Nast.
After the rappers posted a fake Vogue magazine cover image on Instagram to promote their collaborative project Her Loss, the outlet’s parent company Condé Nast filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against them in November last year.
While the company originally sought over $4 million (£3.3 million) in damages, an internal memo published by Reuters on Thursday revealed they had settled with the Her Loss artists for an undisclosed amount.
Condé Nast general counsel Will Bowes said in the memo their settlement would “bolster our ongoing creative output, including Vogue editorial”. He also revealed the agreement included a permanent injunction against the commercial use of Vogue’s trademarks.
Drake and 21 Savage’s Instagram post involved a bogus Vogue cover image appearing to feature the pair on the front of the magazine. In the caption, they thanked Vogue editor Anna Wintour for her “love and support”.
On 9 November 2022, a federal judge agreed the post caused confusion to the pair’s combined 135 million social media followers, constituting grounds for a copyright infringement and false advertising claim. In response, the rappers voluntarily halted the campaign.
The Thursday memo concluded, “It was clear to us that Drake and 21 Savage leveraged Vogue’s reputation for their own commercial purposes and, in the process, confused audiences who trust Vogue as the authoritative voice on fashion and culture.”
Her Loss dropped on 4 November 2022, debuting at No 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
