September 2, 2016
In June 2016, North Carolina independent filmmaker, Matthew Fulks, brought a copyright infringement lawsuit against Beyoncé’s Lemonade, claiming that the singer stole his ideas.
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Fulks claimed that the visual album Lemonade and its corresponding trailer contained images including nine scenes lifted from his short film entitled Palinoia. He extended the lawsuit to also include as defendants Sony Music, Columbia Records, and Parkwood Entertainment.
At the end of August 2016, New York Federal District Judge Jed Rakoff disagreed with Fulks and dismissed the claim. In anticipation of receiving the Judge’s full opinion – to be issued and released at a later date – the following outlines some of the arguments submitted in court documents by Fulks and Beyoncé’s legal team:
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Fulks:
Beyoncé:
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before the creation of Lemonade, Fulks alleges that he had sent Palinoia to several individuals involved in the creation of Beyoncé’s Lemonade
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the numerous similarities between Lemonade and Palinoia included the depiction of the “pain of a tumultuous breakup” that is “distinctive within the short film genre and combines carefully selected, but seemingly unrelated visuals in a rapid montage, with the recitation of a poem used as a voiceover against a distinctive audio soundtrack”
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the works did not display any “actionable similarity” and have nothing to do with each other
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the narratives for each vastly differ: one depicts a “white man who is distressed in the wake of a failed relationship”, the other depicts an “African-American woman who progresses through stages of suspicion, denial, anger, and ultimately, reconciliation in her relationship…and Palinoia is about a “white man who is distressed in the wake of a relationship”
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both pieces shared the same “visual and auditory elements, visual and auditory sequences, themes, format, mood, setting, split, and pace, all of which create a protectable total concept and feel”
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Lemonade is in the “context of African-American culture, with a Southern Gothic feel, and has an ending that is upbeat and joyous”, none of which are depicted in Palinoia
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“Palinoia does not deal with the topic of infidelity, a central theme of Lemonade”
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“Palinoia is about a tumultuous relationship that is now over…the protagonist is a white male and his former lover is a white blonde woman…the demise of their relationship is oblique, and is not tied to infidelity” while “Lemonade portrays the stages through which it’s African-American female protagonist goes in connection with an existing relationship, ending in reconciliation”
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contentious material also included “graffiti and persons with heads down”, “parking garage”, and “side-lit ominous figures”
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these types of scenes do not fall under copyright infringement
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“a straightforward comparison of the parties’ works provides a textbook example of what does not constitute a legally recognizable claim of infringement”
An analysis of the Judge's reasoning will be posted as soon as made available. Stay tuned.
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