Beyoncé’s latest hit album Lemonade may have gone platinum Wednesday morning, but something may keep the entertainer from celebrating. Matt Fulks, an independent filmmaker and creative director at WDRB in Louisville, Ky., is suing Queen Bey for allegedly copying ideas from his short film entitled Palinolia without his permission in order to create the Lemonade trailer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit states how eerily similar the two projects are and how Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment, Sony Music, and Columbia Records gained access to the original short film, which was released in 2014.
In July 2015, Fulks claims Columbia reached out to him about the possibility to direct a music video for the duo MS MR. That’s when he sent emails with links to Palinolia to record company execs, including Bryan Younce who has worked with Beyoncé on her videos in the past. Younce allegedly emailed Fulks an invitation to send in a video treatment. Around five months later the filming of Lemonade began.
The lawsuit alleges there are nine instances, or 39 seconds, in the 60-second Lemonade trailer that compare to Palinolia, such as “graffiti and persons with heads down,” “red persons with eyes obscured,” “parking garage,” “stairwell,” “black and white eyes,” “title card screens,” “the grass scene,” “feet on the street,” “side-lit ominous figures.” Fulks also claims that there are audio similarities as well.
“The number of aesthetic decisions included in Plaintiff’s PALINOIA Work that are parroted in Defendants’ LEMONADE Trailer demonstrates that the LEMONADE Trailer is substantially similar to the PALINOIA Work. The misappropriated content includes both the particular elements that the Plaintiff chose to comprise the PALINOIA Work and the coordination and arrangement of those particular elements.”
Fulks is seeking profits from the alleged exploitation of Palinolia and wants proceeds from Lemonade as well.
So far, #TheBeyhive has yet to get in formation to attack the filmmaker on social media, but it is sure to come once they catch wind of the lawsuit.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
