British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor has made claims that the newly released “All the Stars” Kendrick Lamar video used her stolen artwork. The song is the first single from the Black Panther soundtrack. 

Viktor's lawyer, Christopher Robinson, says that a letter sent a letter to Mr. Lamar’s mentor and label head, Anthony Tiffith at Top Dawg Entertainment, alleges a copyright violation of the 24-karat gold patterned artworks in her series of paintings “Constellations.” According to The New York Times, Viktor had been contacted twice by the film’s creators for permission to feature her work; however, she decided not to participate.

According to the letter sent by her lawyer, Viktor was contacted in November 2016 by an assistant to Jay Hart, a Marvel set decorator, asking to feature her work, “Constellations I,” in the movie, then titled “Motherland.” Although she was prepared to consider participating, she ultimately found the financial and artistic terms unacceptable, which ended further discussions. In December 2017, Mariane Ibrahim-Abdi Lenhardt of the Seattle-based Mariane Ibrahim Gallery,  a representative of Ms. Viktor, was again contacted about the movie by the public relations firm DDA, on behalf of Marvel and Disney.  

Viktor rejected the offer due to the DDA's demand that she “enter into an exclusive license for the proposed artworks, thereby forgoing all artistic control,” the letter says.  Her “Constellations” series was in the works for the Armory Show in March, “a solo exhibition in a major art fair that would be a milestone in her career.”

Around the 2:59 mark of the video, the video contains a 19-second segment “that incorporates not just the immediately-identifiable and unique look of her work, but also many of the specific copyrightable elements in the ‘Constellations’ series of paintings, including stylized motifs of mythical animals, gilded geometric forms on a black background, and distinctively textured areas and patterns, arrayed in a grid-like arrangement of forms.”

“Why would they do this?" Viktor said in a phone interview with the Times. "It’s an ethical issue because what the whole film purports is that it’s about black empowerment, African excellence — that’s the whole concept of the story. And at the same time, they’re stealing from African artists.”

Nancy E. Wolff, a copyright lawyer who currently serves as the president of the Copyright Society of the USA, says that the video’s directors will likely argue that the images in the video are not exact copies.

“It’s really tricky because style is not protected,” Ms. Wolff added, “but I can see why everyone assumed this artist was involved.”

Viktor is looking for "a minimum of a public apology for the unauthorized use and a license fee.”

Kendrick Lamar tweeted Sunday that he was thankful for the opportunity to be behind the soundtrack, but has yet to comment on these allegations.

Viktor said she found out about the video from friends who called to say they’d seen her work in it. Last week, Okay Africa noted, “The work and influence of British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor can be clearly spotted.” 

“Cultural appropriation is something that continually happens to African-American artists,” Viktor said, “and I want to make a stand.”

As excited as we are for Black Panther, we don't want any black artists hurt in the process. 

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