Vampire Weekend debuted in 2008 with a self-titled, critically hailed masterpiece, carving out a unique space for themselves in the flooded indie-rock landscape of the late 2000s. They again earned praise for their second album, Contra, in 2010. Along with the praise, however, came a lawsuit over the album art.
The cover of Contra featured a Polaroid of a young blonde woman named Ann Kirsten Kennis, who had no idea her image would be used to sell albums until she saw it already out in the world. Kennis’ daughter bought the album and showed her mother, who recognized herself in the almost 30-year-old photo. But she said at the time that she didn’t even remember posing for it decades ago.
At first, Kennis found it interesting, even flattering, that her image was being plastered everywhere to promote the album. But the shine quickly faded. “It felt like someone was exploiting me,” she told Vanity Fair in 2010. “Who do these people think they are that they can just take my picture from god only knows where and plaster it everywhere?”
Photographer Tod Brody claimed Kennis signed a release form in 2009 allowing the band and record label to use her likeness. But Kennis denied this, claiming her signature was forged, according to a 2011 report from The Guardian.
Cover Model Sued Vampire Weekend, Who Then Sued Their Photographer
Kennis took Brody, Vampire Weekend, and the band’s label, XL Records, to court, seeking $2 million in a misappropriation-of-image lawsuit. The band remained firm that Brody had misled them into believing they had permission to use Kennis’ photo. Still, there were other issues beyond licensing, as the court could have argued that Vampire Weekend had not done proper due diligence in researching the photo’s origins. To be fair, there were several conflicting stories about where the photo came from.
Brody was adamant that he took the Polaroid of Kennis at a casting call. Apparently, he’d kept it tacked up on a wall in his office among many other photos. Kennis, however, was sure that her mother had actually taken it. It had allegedly been lost at some point before turning up in Brody’s possession. According to agency founder Sue Charney, who Kennis worked with as a model, the photo was “very clearly a Polaroid taken at a casting session.”
Photographer Misses Court Dates, Refuses to Answer Calls, and Goes Missing
In 2011, the initial case was settled for an undisclosed amount. Ann Kirsten Kennis won her lawsuit, but the controversy sparked another lawsuit right after. Vampire Weekend went after Tod Brody, who had overstated his ownership of the photograph.
The band sued Brody, who has long been considered a fraudster. In 2010, many claims from filmmakers, models, and anonymous sources surfaced as lawyers and journalists dug into Brody’s history. Speaking with Vanity Fair at the time, Brody dismissed these claims as baseless and unverified. But the information was still out there for anyone to find and verify for themselves.
Additionally, Brody’s actions during the lawsuit didn’t exactly help his case either. Apparently, it took several weeks for Brody to be tracked down by his lawyers. He ignored phone calls, didn’t pay his attorneys, and became increasingly hostile. In June 2011, his lawyers dropped him, and he was forced to represent himself.
“There has been a total breakdown in the attorney-client relationship,” his lawyers wrote in a statement at the time, per The Guardian. “When he finally did respond, his responses became increasingly hostile and exhibited substantial animus toward the firm.”
Photo by REBEL Media/WireImage
The post Vampire Weekend vs. a Disappearing Photographer: The Dramatic Saga of the Contested ‘Contra’ Album Cover appeared first on VICE.
