BIG Photo Finish: Estates of Notorious B.I.G. and Chi Modu Settle Right of Publicity Suit.

The article discusses the settlement of a long-running case between Notorious B.I.G. LLC (BIG) and the estate of photographer Chi Modu. The dispute centered around a 1996 photograph taken by Modu of the rapper standing in front of the World Trade Center, which BIG claimed Modu had illegally licensed for use on commercial products. BIG, which controls the rights to Biggie's image, brought suit against Modu and manufacturers of the products, asserting claims for unfair competition, trademark infringement, and violation of the right of publicity. Modu countered by asserting his copyright in the photo preempted BIG's claims. The court granted a preliminary injunction, allowing Modu's estate to continue selling reproductions of the photo as posters, prints, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), but prohibiting the sale of merchandise featuring the photo. The case settled just prior to trial, and the details of the settlement were not made public. [Extracted from the article]