Annie Leibovitz Sues Observer Media Over Unlicensed Use of Iconic Bieber Wedding Photo

Annie Leibovitz has taken Observer Media to federal court, accusing the company behind Observer.com of running one of her best-known celebrity portraits without permission or payment for years after being told to stop.

The photographer, whose 2019 image of Justin and Hailey Bieber in matching Dolce & Gabbana polka-dot outfits ran in Vogue, filed suit this week in Manhattan federal court against the publisher of the outlet formerly known as The New York Observer.

According to the complaint, Leibovitz's licensing representatives sent Observer Media a cease-and-desist letter on May 24, 2024, warning that the site's use of the photograph violated her copyright and demanding its removal. The company never responded, and as of July 16 of this year, the image remained posted alongside a 2020 article about the couple's decision to wait until marriage before living together.

Leibovitz's attorneys argue the continued use amounts to more than a simple oversight. The nine-page filing describes the infringement as willful and calculated, asserting that Observer Media knew about the photographer's rights and chose to ignore them rather than pull the image or negotiate a license. The lawsuit seeks disgorgement of any profits the company generated from displaying the photo, along with statutory damages that could reach $150,000 for each instance of unauthorized use.

The complaint leans heavily on Leibovitz's stature in the industry to make its case for the severity of the alleged harm. It points to her decades of portrait work, including sittings with John Lennon, Bill Clinton, Clint Eastwood and Queen Elizabeth II, as evidence of the commercial value tied to her name and her images. Attorneys wrote that the plaintiffs have suffered and will keep suffering measurable financial damage, with the exact figure to be determined at trial.

Observer.com is the online descendant of a publication that spent decades as a print weekly known for its salmon-colored pages before dropping "New York" from its name in 2016. The outlet was once controlled by Jared Kushner, who bought it in 2006 and held it for years before stepping back from day-to-day involvement as he moved into a role advising his father-in-law, President Donald Trump, in the White House. It is unclear from the filing who currently oversees the site's editorial and legal decisions.

The dispute adds to a growing list of copyright fights between photographers and digital publishers over the unlicensed reposting of celebrity images, an issue that has intensified as outlets compete for traffic on viral photos without always securing rights first.

Leibovitz's case stands out both for the reputational weight of her portfolio and for the extended timeline involved: more than two years passed between the initial takedown notice and the filing of the lawsuit, a gap her attorneys frame as proof that Observer Media's inaction was deliberate rather than accidental.

The case will likely hinge on whether the court agrees that the continued display of the photograph, after formal notice of the infringement, meets the legal threshold for willfulness under federal copyright law, a distinction that could significantly affect the size of any eventual judgment.

No trial date has been set, and Observer Media has not filed a public response to the allegations.