According to a report by The New York Times, a British-Liberian artist named Lina Iris Viktor sent a letter through her lawyer about the copyright infringement of her artwork in the music video for "All The Stars." The video, released earlier this week, was for the song off of the soundtrack for the upcoming Black Panther film.
According to the letter sent to Anthony Tiffith, the head of Top Dawg Entertainment, Viktor alleges that the gold patterns featured in the music video is copyright infringement of her her work titled "Constellations." The letter also claims that the team responsible for the music video approached Viktor twice about using her work –– permission that she declined to give.
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She said that she turned down the offer because of the terms of the agreement, Entering into a deal with Marvel and Disney meant that she would forfeit certain artistic control.
The New York Times pointed out that in a story about the music video from Okay Africa earlier in the week, a connection is made between Viktor's work and the art seen in the video.
In an interview with the Times, Viktor explained her frustration. She expressed that she was not seeking compensation as much as she was seeking acknowledgement.
"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.”
Kendrick Lamar, Anthony Tiffith, and Disney declined to comment to The New York Times request for comment.
