Beyonce has fired back at claims she ripped off her visual album Lemonade.Back in June, Queen B was sued by filmaker Matthew Fulks over claims that her HBO film was too similar to his short film Palinoia.
On Friday, Bey’s legal team reportedly filed a motion arguing that the two films have nothing to do with each other and urged the judge to toss the lawsuit out.
“straightforward comparison of the parties’ works provides a textbook example of what does not constitute legally cognizable claim of infringement,” read the motion to dismiss, according to TMZ.
According to Beyonce’s team, Palinoia makes no reference to infidelity which is the central theme of Lemonade and its accompanying album.
“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,” the motion reportedly adds.
According to the site, Fulks is seeking unspecified damages in his suit, which claims Beyonce committed copyright infringement.His lawsuit claims that Lemonade is ‘substantially similar’ to his film, including a similar mood, setting, pace and fonts.Fulks claims he was approached to direct a video by artist MS MR back in 2015, who are signed to Columbia Recording – which is part of the Sony Music group to which Beyonce is signed.
The filmmaker says that this led to to his project being sent to numerous people at the record label shortly before Beyonce filmed Lemonade.It’s not the first time the Irreplaceable singer has been accused of ripping off work.Last year she was forced to deny stealing hit song XO from a backing singer, after he sued her for a reported $7million.