Cardi B absolved in artwork lawsuit

A jury sided with Cardi B on Friday in a copyright infringement case involving a man who claimed the Grammy-winning rapper misused his back tattoos for her sexually suggestive 2016 mixtape cover art.

The federal jury in Southern California ruled Kevin Michael Brophy did not prove Cardi B misappropriated his likeness. After the jury forewoman read the verdict, the rapper hugged her attorneys and appeared joyful.

Cardi B thanked the jurors, admitting she was “pretty nervous” before hearing the verdict.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to lose or not,” she said after leaving the courthouse. She was swarmed by several reporters, photographers and more than 40 high schoolers who chanted her name. One fan held up a sign asking if she could take him to his homecoming dance, to which she replied, “Yes, I’ll see what I can do.”

Brophy filed the lawsuit a year after the rapper’s 2016 mixtape was released. He called himself a “family man with minor children” and said he was caused “distress and humiliation” by the artwork.

Brophy’s lawyer, A. Barry Cappello, said photo-editing software was used to put the back tattoo, which has appeared in tattoo magazines, onto the male model featured on the mixtape cover.

But Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, disputed the allegations during her testimony earlier in the week.

Cardi B said an artist used only a “small portion” of the tattoos without her knowledge. She had previously said the cover art — created by Timm Gooden — was transformative fair use of Brophy’s likeness.

Cappello said Gooden was paid $50 to create a design, but was told to find another tattoo after he turned in an initial draft. He said Gooden googled “back tattoos” before he found an image and pasted it on the cover.

Cardi B’s lawyer, Peter Anderson, said Brophy and the mixtape image are unrelated, noting the model did not have neck tattoos — which Brophy does.

“It’s not your client’s back,” Cardi B said about the image, which featured a Black model. Brophy is White. The rapper pointed out that she posted a photo of the “famous Canadian model” on her social media.

“It’s not him,” she continued. “To me, it doesn’t look like his back at all. The tattoo was modified, which is protected by the First Amendment.”