Sony Music Publishing Sued Over Stevie Wonder Photo in Album Anniversary Instagram Post

Photographer Alan Satterwhite has sued Sony Music Publishing, alleging it posted one of his Stevie Wonder photographs on Instagram without a licence. The image appeared in a 2023 carousel marking the 50th anniversary of Wonder’s album *Innervisions*; the case matters because it concerns the photographer’s right to control how his work is licensed.

Satterwhite says the post harmed the photograph’s market value and is seeking the maximum statutory award of $150,000. The photograph came from a 1974 series of Wonder at a piano, while *Innervisions* reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and spent 89 weeks on the chart. Satterwhite has previously brought more than a dozen similar cases over alleged unauthorised uses of photographs; Sony Music Publishing declined to comment.