Italian Photographer Drops Copyright Lawsuit Against Drake

Photo Credit: Drake by Charito Yap for The Come Up Show / CC by 2.0

Drake scores a win as the copyright infringement lawsuit an Italian photographer filed against him over visuals in a music video was dismissed.

Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti sued Drake for alleged copyright infringement back in November over visuals featured in the music video for “What Did I Miss?” Now, the lawsuit has been dismissed with prejudice, preventing Galimberti from filing it again in the future, carving out a win for Drake.

According to the lawsuit, the “What Did I Miss?” music video, released in July, featured an arrangement of firearms near a swimming pool that closely mimicked visuals from Galimberti’s work, The Ameriguns, in violation of Galimberti’s creative rights.

With the case dismissed with prejudice, Galimberti cannot bring the claim to court again in the future. Court documents suggest that Galimberti’s legal team failed to serve the lawsuit to Drake and the other defendants in the first place, leading to its dismissal. It also appears that both parties are responsible for their own legal costs, but otherwise no further details have been revealed.

Notably, both artists have been at the center of significant media controversy. Galimberti, a photographer for National Geographic, faced backlash for his role in a controversial Balenciaga advertisement involving allegations of “glorifying pedophilia” in 2022.

Drake’s reference to the Galimberti photo is, according to the filing, intended as a reference to Kendrick Lamar calling Drake a “certified pedophile” in his record-smashing hit diss track, “Not Like Us.” The song and its popularity have had Drizzy in a tizzy, and led to him suing Universal Music Group—the parent of both labels affiliated with Drake and Kendrick—for defamation and other allegations.

Drake’s lawsuit against UMG was dismissed in October, but the rapper and his team were quick to announce they would be appealing the decision. That move has since come to light, with Drake’s legal team filing a massive appeal last week.

Specifically, Drake takes issue with the court’s decision based on the judge’s assertion that everyone knows rap battles are full of boasts and exaggerations on both sides, and that Drake should have known what he was getting into by engaging.

“The court effectively created an unprecedented and overbroad categorical rule that statements in rap diss tracks can never constitute statements of fact,” the appeal reads.

UMG now has until March 27 to respond to Drake’s team’s brief as their legal battle continues.