British-Liberian artist Takes Kendrick Lamar & SZA to court over visuals in "All the Stars" video - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote]Kendrick Lamar and SZA have been sued over their “All the Stars” video, TMZ reports. The suit is from British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor, who recently accused them of using her artwork in their visuals for the Black Panther song. According to a New York Times report, her lawyer previously sent TDE’s Anthony Tiffith a letter alerting him to the copyright violation, stating Viktor was “willing to discuss a resolution of all her claims, consisting at a minimum of a public apology for the unauthorized use and a license fee.” In a statement to Pitchfork, her lawyer said: “We tried to resolve this without litigation. Now that we are in Court, we are confident that Ms. Viktor will prevail.” The complaint, obtained by Pitchfork, states: [quote]The Infringing Video and the Movie promotes (and profits from) themes of black and female empowerment and the end of racist and gender exploitation, themes particularly topical in the current environment. Yet, in a bitter irony, the Defendants have ignored the wishes of the Artist, herself a Black African woman, whose life’s work is founded on an examination of the political and historical preconceptions of “blackness,” liberation and womanhood.[/quote] It also states: [quote]In contrast to his message in the song’s lyrics that “I hate people that feel entitled,” and that “I want my credit if I am winning or I am losing,” Defendant Lamar, who is the public face of the Infringing Video and is quick to take credit for it in public statements, has sought to distance himself from any responsibility for the video as an infringement of Plaintiff’s rights.[/quote] Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Lamar and SZA.[/quote] [url=https://pitchfork.com/news/kendrick-and-sza-sued-over-black-panther-video/]Pitchfork[/url] The visuals in this lawsuit can be seen starting at 2:59 [video]https://youtu.be/JQbjS0_ZfJ0[/video]

Someone in Kendrick's camp is gonna be in trouble for this. Such a shame, whoever did that specific part of the video should have reached out to that artist and empowered them / put them on, instead of ripping so heavily. Someone who works for Drake did the same thing recently, ripping off a smaller / unknown visual artists works instead of just asking them to do it or giving them credit.

[QUOTE=Alec W;53149939]Someone in Kendrick's camp is gonna be in trouble for this. Such a shame, whoever did that specific part of the video should have reached out to that artist and empowered them / put them on, instead of ripping so heavily. Someone who works for Drake did the same thing recently, ripping off a smaller / unknown visual artists works instead of just asking them to do it or giving them credit.[/QUOTE] taylor swift had a video somewhat recently that really blatantly ripped off the game a night in the woods' art style and character designs; this seems to be a sadly common thing with huge artists

Probably because the ones who steal the artwork think that the person wouldn't go after them and wouldn't be noticed either way.

I looked at the original artwork and there's no question as to whether it was plagiarized. It is 1:1.

[QUOTE=TheHydra;53150068]taylor swift had a video somewhat recently that really blatantly ripped off the game a night in the woods' art style and character designs; this seems to be a sadly common thing with huge artists[/QUOTE] She did? What video?

[QUOTE=EmilyVasquez;53150380]She did? What video?[/QUOTE] not a music video but still shitty [video=youtube;1i5B1asvFxY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i5B1asvFxY[/video]

[QUOTE=Blazedalt;53150385]not a music video but still shitty [video=youtube;1i5B1asvFxY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i5B1asvFxY[/video][/QUOTE] I checked and apparently Scott Benson (NITW Animator) actually animated this, plus he even tweeted about it too saying he wasn't bothered by it.

That's unfortunate :frown:. She definitely seems to have some solid grounds to sue, especially if they tried to pretend it didn't happen. When I first saw that I actually remembered a really old iconic National Geographic Issue from the late nineties about African Gold, specifically the issue from October 1996. [IMG]http://www.tias.com/stores/ftlogancontemp/pictures/ngm0512a.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]https://i.pinimg.com/236x/b0/f5/d7/b0f5d747e6fbcdd50b3d96b8bcdd182f--kente-cloth-african-royalty.jpg[/IMG] It's actually a really great piece, if you can get your hands on it.

I'm looking at both but I'm struggling to see any plagarism. They just seem to both have the same gold color and random shapes, can't seem to match anywhere in the video where the organisation is similar.

[QUOTE=KillerLUA;53151594]I'm looking at both but I'm struggling to see any plagarism. They just seem to both have the same gold color and random shapes, can't seem to match anywhere in the video where the organisation is similar.[/QUOTE] Then I'm not sure how you don't see it. It's quite literally the gold patterns from her work, in the video.

[QUOTE=KillerLUA;53151594]I'm looking at both but I'm struggling to see any plagarism. They just seem to both have the same gold color and random shapes, can't seem to match anywhere in the video where the organisation is similar.[/QUOTE] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Y0Vb0S6.jpg[/IMG] Umm??

[QUOTE=KillerLUA;53151594]I'm looking at both but I'm struggling to see any plagarism. They just seem to both have the same gold color and random shapes, can't seem to match anywhere in the video where the organisation is similar.[/QUOTE] [t]http://makewells.typepad.com/.a/6a0162fc7c4f2e970d01a73dfbfde6970d-pi[/t] [t]http://l.rgbimg.com/cache1zw0WT/users/t/ta/tacluda/600/pmQnjlc.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.printedgift.net/_image/art-print/0016368-patterned--painted-floral-ogee-in-vintage-tones-art-print.jpg[/t] Think of the millions of patterns you can make, think about all of the ways they could've styled that set. All the lines, recurring shapes, the spacing and the colors just *happened* to be the same?