Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters Sued Over Tupac T-Shirts

Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters are among five companies facing a copyright infringement lawsuit over Tupac Shakur merchandise. Danny Clinch took the photographs of Tupac for Rolling Stone’s 1993 and 1996 covers, according to Consumerist, and reportedly holds the copyright for those images. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York, Clinch claims that his photographs were used on t-shirts produced by Bioworld and licensed through Planet Productions LLC and Amaru/AWA Merchandising Inc. The shirts were reportedly sold by Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters. 

Filings made in 2012 show that Amaru/AWA Merchandising Inc. granted Planet Productions permission to use the images on behalf of the copyright holder, but Clinch never authorized them to act on his behalf, according to court documents. Clinch is seeking over $600,000 in damages and for all remaining merchandise featuring his photographs to be destroyed. 

In 2014, Clinch spoke with Rolling Stone about the 1993 photo shoot. “At one point he was changing up his clothes so we’d have some options,” he recounted. “I saw his tattoos and said, ‘Hey, can I get a couple without your shirt on?’ He said, ‘Sure.’”

Forever 21 was recently called out by Frank Ocean for utilizing his Blonde and Boys Don’t Cry typography on a storefront. 

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