Gordie's Midday Gossip - Biggie goes BIG

The estate of The Notorious B.I.G. has filed a lawsuit against several retailers arguing that canvas prints of a famous photo of biggie were sold by the companies without authorization. According to Billboard, the photo at issue — titled “The King Of New York” was illegally reproduced by iCanvas and sold to a list of retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Nordstrom, and Target. The suit reads: “Defendants specifically chose to use Mr. Wallace’s persona, name, image, likeness … in an attempt to capitalize on their fame and extraordinary financial value. Mr. Wallace’s persona, name, image, likeness, and artistic works are so well known that they are almost universally and instantly recognizable, even by those born after he died.” “The King Of New York” is considered one of the most well-known images of the late Christopher Wallace, featuring the rotund rapper adorned with a plastic crown in front of a red backdrop. A mural in his home neighborhood, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, is based on the photo, and the crown from it even sold for over half-a-million dollars at auction in 2020.