Artist Says Kendrick Lamar Video for ‘Black Panther’ Song Stole Her Work
But because the gold-on-black aesthetic of Ms. Viktor’s work “is so strong,” Ms. Wolff said, “it’s just going to look like it’s the same.”
“It’s really tricky because style is not protected,” Ms. Wolff added, “but I can see why everyone assumed this artist was involved.”
Ms. Viktor said she found out about the video from friends who called to say they’d seen her work in it.
And a story about the video on the website Okay Africa last week noted, “The work
and influence of British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor can be clearly spotted.”
In November 2016, according to the lawyer’s letter, Ms. Viktor was contacted by an assistant to Jay Hart, a Marvel set decorator, asking to feature her work, “Constellations I” in the movie, then titled “Motherland.” Ms. Viktor was prepared to consider participating,
but ultimately found the financial and artistic terms unacceptable, which ended further discussions.
Ms. Viktor rejected DDA’s demand that she “enter into an exclusive license for the proposed artworks, thereby forgoing all artistic control,” the letter says, in part
because her “Constellations” series was in the works for the Armory Show in March, “a solo exhibition in a major art fair that would be a milestone in her career.”
“We’re in an age when no is supposed to mean no in whatever field you’re in,” Mr. Robinson said in a telephone interview.
On Saturday, Christopher Robinson, a lawyer for the artist Lina Iris Viktor, sent a letter to Mr. Lamar’s mentor
and label head, Anthony Tiffith at Top Dawg Entertainment, alleging a copyright violation of the 24-karat gold, patterned artworks in her series of paintings “Constellations.” Ms. Viktor had been contacted twice by the film’s creators for permission to feature her work, the letter says, but she decided not to participate.
The team behind “Black Panther,” the film featuring the first black superhero to appear in mainstream comics, is facing allegations by a British-Liberian artist
that her work was used without permission in Kendrick Lamar’s just-released music video for “All the Stars,” a song from the movie’s soundtrack.