Rihanna is being sued again for her “S&M” video this time by a photographer. A 19 year-old photographer claims that Rihanna got the idea for part of her video from his photograph series called “Paperworld.” In “Paperworld” a woman is held up against a wall by plastic that has X-marks made from black tape. Read more about the lawsuit after the jump.
@Julie1205
Rihanna’s salacious video for her hit song “S&M” has landed her in hot water – again.
Four months after David LaChapelle filed a lawsuit accusing the singer of ripping off his work, another photographer is making similar claims.
In a press release, 19-year-old Philipp Paulus and his lawyer alleged that a scene in Rihanna’s bondage-themed video was based on his fashion photography series “Paperworld.”
Paulus’ work included a woman in a red dress held against a wall via plastic wrapping with black tape in X-marks over it.
Rihanna’s video features herself in the same setup, with her dress and hair styled differently than the original’s model.
According to the press release, Universal Music Group copped to the similarities but due to a breakdown in settlement negotiations, Paulus plans to sue.
“In the relevant video-scenes of the music-video ‘S&M’ are essentially the basics of the copyright protected achievements and creations of our client,” said attorney Philip Jakober.
Jakokber alleged that the copyrights on Paulus’ works have been violated by the successful music video and “the worldwide million-wise exploitation of video ‘S&M’ is unlawful.”
Paulus, a German native who works in Paris, seemed flabbergasted that Rihanna, 23, didn’t express more originality in her work.
“Why a worldwide celebrity is not able to afford a creative director, who creates individual concepts and stagings, is uncomprehensible to me,” he said.
Paulus went on to explain that creativity can only “come from a real genius,” which is probably why Rihanna allegedly stole from others.
