Rod Wave is facing a new legal battle over the cover art for his 2024 album Last Lap. A Florida photographer has filed a lawsuit accusing the rapper and his team of using one of his images without permission. And he claims that the performer is profiting heavily from it across album art, merch, and tour promotion.
Billboard reported that according to a complaint filed Thursday (Dec. 11), Tampa-based photographer Allan Salas says he shot the image in question during Rod Wave’s August 2024 hometown concert. The photo, which shows Rod gripping a mic stand mid-performance, later appeared as the official Last Lap album cover. Salas claims he was never paid, never licensed the image and that Rod’s team ignored explicit warnings that he owned the rights.
The complaint claims that despite releasing the album with the unapproved photograph, the defendants went on to use it even more widely without permission, per documents reviewed by Billboard. The suit cites that he plastered the image across promotional materials for his 28-date arena tour. In addition, Salas argues he sold it on merchandise, including T-shirts.
“Even though the defendants had already commercially released the album, which contained unauthorized uses of the photograph, the defendants doubled down and tripled down on their unauthorized use,” his attorneys reportedly wrote in the lawsuit.
Rod Wave Faces Another Legal Dispute
Last Lap debuted on No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spent 56 weeks on the chart. Salas says that the commercial success of Last Lap only deepened the damages. In the filing, Salas says he was granted access to shoot the Tampa concert but maintained ownership of all the photos he took that night. He claims Rod’s team was informed of that fact. However, he says they continued to use the picture across major revenue-driving platforms without securing any license or compensation.
Unfortunately this isn't the first news of a lawsuit for Rod Wave. Earlier this year, he was hit with a massive $27 million lawsuit from his former concert promoter Grizzly Touring LLC. The promoter alleged that Rod Wave breached his contract and did not return his advance money. It remains to be seen what the outcome of these lawsuits will be for the artist.
