Photographer suing Jennifer Hudson for sharing a photo of herself without permission

Jennifer Hudson is being sued for sharing a photo of herself without permission.

The actress had been photographed wearing a pink blazer and thigh-high stilettos by Fernando Ramales, and he later sold the image to a news outlet, who ran it on Dec 21, 2019.

A few days later, Jennifer shared the same picture on Instagram, without the watermark, along with the caption: "Me walking out of 2019 into 2020 like ....just as grateful as I can be! Thank you Lord for all you've done for me! I hope you all find your joy in the new year! (sic)"

The photographer has taken legal action against the 38-year-old star - who still has the picture on her account - and her team, and is seeking up to US$175,000 (S$250,000) damages, plus attorneys' fees for the alleged copyright infringement.

Fernando's lawyer, Richard Liebowitz, told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "More and more celebrities are using social media to reach out to their fans to promote their brand by using photographs.

"But Ms Hudson and her company did not get the proper permissions to use the photograph, and they also cropped out the photographer's watermark identifying him as the copyright holder. You simply can't do that."