Lady Gaga has been mocked by Shutterstock for using a stock photo without permission, which included their watermark emblazoned across it. The singer posted the two images in a tweet about fans pirating her new music, which leaked onto the internet last week. “We like artists to be paid for their work too. Here’s a link to the photographer’s work where you can license these quality images,” tweeted Shutterstock.
Released against her will, Gaga’s new track, “Stupid Love,” has been doing the rounds on social media. Clearly irritated by its circulation, she attempted to make light of the situation by posting two humorous stock photos on Twitter. Given that both featured Shutterstock’s logo, the singer had clearly lifted them without purchase.
Shutterstock soon caught wind, noting how her actions were hypocritical, given that she had clearly not purchased the photographer’s images before posting to her 80 million followers. Gaga’s fans were quick to jump to her defense, claiming that Shutterstock was trying to take advantage of her fame and that because the images were watermarked, they were fair game.
Children’s author Richard Nelson, who took the photo, saw the funny side, even going as far as to tweet the images with the watermarked removed. “As the photographer of this picture, I got you,” he wrote, accompanied by a laughing emoji.
Lead image Philip Nelson via Flickr CC.