David LaChapelle vs Rihanna: Court case date arrives
Fashion photographer and the singing sensation are going to a pretrial date at the courts in New York as LaChapelle feels that Ri-Ri has overstepped the mark in her already controversial S&M video.
He claims that some images in the video were pragiarised from his own "composition, total concept, feel, tone, mood, theme, colours, props, settings, decors, wardrobe and lighting".
The court was prepared to see LaChapelle's point as the 'pink room scene' from Rihanna's video, which shows her dominating a man in front of striped walls is incredibly similae to LaChapelle's infamous 'Striped Face' photograph.
The photographer who's highly regarded on the fashion circuit and who draws his attention from muses including the stunning Daphne Guinness.
LaChapelle insists that this is nothing personal against the successful singer, saying that he is a big fan of hers and that this is strictly business.
He is also reported to have said that it is not uncommon for musicians to pay for sample music to be played on songs and there should be no difference for the use of an artist's visual.
Rihanna, her label Def Jam and her video director Melina Matsoukas are all being sued for unspecified damages.
This is not the first time that Matsoukas has faced the courts over her videos. She was also accused of plagiarism over another Rihanna video, Rude Boy which was compared to M.I.A's 'Boyz' video.
FemaleFirst Jenna Fordie
twitter: @Jenna_FAM
Tagged in Rihanna