[videowaywire video_id=”1CE0106C7997938F”]
*Kendrick Lamar has been accused of using an artist’s work without permission in the video for “All The Stars,” the first single from his soundtrack to the upcoming “Black Panther” film.
British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor alleges that she twice turned down Marvel Studios executives’ requests to use works from her Constellations series, but images similar to her pieces somehow ended up in the video for “All the Stars.”
Viktor tells the New York Times, “It’s an ethical issue, because what the whole film purports is that it’s about black empowerment, African excellence-that’s the whole concept of the story. And at the same time they’re stealing from African artists.”
According to the article, Viktor’s lawyer Christopher Robinson on Saturday contacted Top Dawg Entertainment head Anthony Tiffith (who co-curated the “Black Panther” soundtrack with Lamar) alerting him to the potential copyright violation.
Robinson wrote that at around three minutes into the video, designs can be seen that strongly resemble the black and gold motifs of Viktor’s work. He claimed the footage in question, “incorporates not just the immediately-identifiable and unique look of her work, but also many of the specific copyrightable elements in the Constellations series of paintings, including stylized motifs of mythical animals, gilded geometric forms on a black background, and distinctively textured areas and patterns, arrayed in a grid-like arrangement of forms.”
Watch the video below:
Viktor is seeking a public apology and a license fee, according to the newspaper.
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