As the soundtrack to the film Black Panther continues to garner praise, one artist has taken aim at album curator Kendrick Lamar over the alleged theft of her artwork in the music video to K-Dot and SZA’s “All The Stars.”
The New York Times reports that over the weekend, a lawyer for British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor fired off a letter to Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith claiming a copyright violation of the artwork featured in Viktor’s “Constellations” collection.
The paintings in “Constellations” feature 24-karat gold patterned artworks, similar to that used in the “All The Stars” visual, which was directed by Dave Meyers and the little homies (aka Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free).
Viktor, who was approached twice on behalf of the Black Panther film about using her work before she declined, went on to point out how contradictory it is that a film that celebrates “African excellence” would allegedly steal her work.
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“Why would they do this? 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,” Lina Iris Viktor said while speaking with the New York Times.
According to her lawyer, Viktor is 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.”
