Beyoncé earns court victory as judge dismisses ‘Lemonade’ lawsuit from filmmaker claiming she ripped scenes
This "Lemonade" lawsuit isn't ending on a sour note for Beyoncé.
The pop star squeezed out a significant legal triumph over an
independent filmmaker who claimed she stole scenes from his movie for
her "Lemonade" trailer — as a judge decided to dismiss the case,
TMZ reports.
Matthew Fulks
sued the "Sorry" singer
in June and accused her of ripping nine visual elements from his short
film "Palinoia" and using similar scenes in her 60-second teaser.
Among the scenes he claimed she had stolen were a "red person with eyes obscured" and walls covered with graffiti.
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| Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan Federal Court who tossed the Lemonade Lawsuit. |
But a judge said he assessed the lawsuit and decided to toss it, though
it's currently unclear what exactly prompted him to do so, according to
TMZ.
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| Thomas Ferber (pictured) arguing the motion in front of Judge Rakoff, pointing to document showing differences in videos. "The protagonist in plaintiff's film is a white man who is distressed in
the wake of a failed relationship, while the defendants' protagonist is
an African-American woman who progresses through stages of suspicion,
denial, anger and, ultimately, reconciliation in her relationship,"
Ferber said in court. Artwork by Elizabeth Williams (click on image to see larger) | |
Beyonce's lawyer Tom Ferber maintained her innocence throughout the saga and downplayed the likeness of the two videos in court.
Beyoncé, who earned rave reviews for her performance of several songs
from "Lemonade" at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, released the highly
evocative project in April.
