Ryan Coogler's Black Panther is gearing up to debut in theaters this weekend, and there's a lot to start getting excited about in the Marvel world. The film has earned some great early critical reactions, and the first wave of reviews (including CinemaBlend's) is incredibly positive. That said, some new issues associated with the film's release have just arisen, as an artist is now claiming that the recently-released Black Panther-themed music video from soundtrack artist Kendrick Lamar stole her work.
If you have kept up with Black Panther buzz, then you've likely heard that it features one of the coolest soundtracks Marvel Cinematic Universe, with one of the most high-profile songs on the album being Kendrick Lamar's "All the Stars.". However, the video for the track has now come under fire by artist Lina Iris Viktor, who claims that imagery from her painting series "Constellation I" was taken and used to develop the backdrop for one of the video's settings. The art in question involves heavy use of gold paint and geometric shapes on a black backdrop. You can check out the alleged infringement from "All the Stars" below.
The folks behind the video allegedly reached out to Lina Iris Viktor multiple times to use the artwork, and per the report, she turned down their offers. Now, according to the New York Times' report of the suit, Viktor and her legal team have sent a letter to Kendrick Lamar's label, Top Dawg Entertainment, with a list of demands. Chief among these demands is payment for the use of her artwork in the "All the Stars" music video, as well as a public apology for the alleged theft of her work in the video.
In comments made about the situation and the perceived infringement, Lina Iris Viktor has highlighted the fact that Black Panther is heavily framed as a movie about black empowerment and African pride, but she apparently looks at this situation as theft from a black artist. As of right now, nobody associated with Black Panther (including Kendrick Lamar) has publicly addressed the situation yet, and "All the Stars" has accumulated almost 11 million hits on YouTube.
We will make sure to keep you posted with more information related to this story and everything else from the world of Black Panther as new details are made available to us. As for the film itself, you can catch Ryan Coogler's Black Panther in theaters this weekend when the film debuts on February 16th.
