Plagiarism Lawsuit Beyoncé Dismissed

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A federal judge recently threw out a lawsuit filed against Beyoncé by filmmaker Matthew Fulks.  

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fulks claimed that the Lemonade star plagiarized nine visuals from his short film Palinoia, including the the low-light shots of a “parking garage” and shots of “graffiti on walls.” 

However in court, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff stated that Beyonce´didn’t lift Fulks’ images, but didn’t go into details as to how he got that conclusion. 

“Upon full consideration of the parties’ briefs and oral arguments, the Court grants defendants’ motion. A memorandum explaining the reasons for this ruling will issue in due course, at which time final judgment will be entered,” he wrote. 

As HELLO BEAUTIFUL previously reported, Fulks claimed that after being contacted with the opportunity to work with Columbia artists MS MR, a link to his short film was sent to Columbia Records’ Bryan Younce. In July 2015, Younce sent Fulks a note inviting him to submit a video treatment for consideration by Columbia. Later that year, filming began for Lemonade and Fulks wasn’t including in that process.

And while looking at the screen stills side by side they are similar, Queen Bey was very clear that she didn’t copy anyone: “Lemonade portrays “an African-American woman who progresses through stages of suspicion, denial, anger and, ultimately, reconciliation in her relationship.” On the other hand, she says Palinoia is about a “white man who is distressed in the wake of a failed relationship,” she said in court docs in July.

Boy bye, we guess.

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