Playboy has found itself in a hairy legal situation, and it’s all because of Paul McCartney’s unfortunate grooming choices.
Playboy Enterprises has been slapped with a lawsuit by a photographer who claims that Playboy.com lifted his photo of the former Beatle for a gallery of famous mullets.
In his lawsuit, James Fortune says Playboy used his photo of McCartney for a 2014 slideshow titled “15 Hilariously Awesome Celebrity Mullets.”
The slideshow apparently failed to amuse Fortune, who says Playboy didn’t license the copyrighted image.
“Playboy infringed Plaintiff’s copyright in the Photograph by reproducing and publicly displaying the Photograph on the website,” the suit, filed in federal court in New York on Saturday, reads. “Playboy is not, and has never been, licensed or otherwise authorized to reproduce, publicly display, distribute and/or use the Photograph.”
A spokesman for Playboy had no comment on the lawsuit for TheWrap.
Alleging copyright infringement, Fortune is seeking unspecified damages.
Fortune has also filed suit against Flavorpill Productions, claiming that his photo of Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson and The Who drummer Keith Moon was used without permission for an article titled “10 Notorious Pop Culture Recluses.”
Flavorpill has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.