British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor is known for her mixed material artwork on textured canvas and painting, and incorporating the color black which is often steered away from in the world of fine arts.
The artist recently alleged that SZA and Kendrick Lamar used her artwork in the “All The Stars” music video without ever having been granted permission. The artist claims that she was approached by Marvel in November 2016 and again in December 2017 to feature pieces from her “Constellations” series but she declined, reports the New York Times.
While the work in the video is multidimensional, the images are similar. They can be seen beginning at the 2:59 timestamp in the Black Panther music video.
The Times reports that Viktor’s lawyer contacted Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, TDE CEO, with a copyright warning before the fact but it was disregarded. In the statement, Viktor notified TDE that she 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.”
Viktor and her lawyer will now approach the discrepancy with litigation. “Now that we are in Court, we are confident that Ms. Viktor will prevail,” her lawyer stated.
Viktor is requesting reparations for damages and that the team refrains from using her artwork to promote the song. She posted a statement regarding the incident to Facebook on Monday (Feb. 19).