Plagiarism doesn’t just happen to high fashion brands (are you listening sue happy Louboutin?), artists are also victims of copycatting. Superstar artist David LaChapelle has been working on a lawsuit against singer Rihanna for her “S&M” video for months now and the case has officially made it to the courtroom. A date has been set for August 10 in New York and LaChapelle has some pretty convincing evidence against the singer and her music video director Melina Matsoukas, along with her record label Def Jam. As you can see from the above comparison, Rihanna’s video scene (top) looks eerily similar to LaChapelle’s “Striped Face” photo (bottom) and below (left) she resembles his “Latex” photograph (right).

According to sources, “LaChapelle is claiming Matsoukas was “asked by Rihanna or persons acting on her behalf to create a LaChapelle-esque music video.”

The artist does have a strong point when comparing his work to that of musicians. “This is not personal, strictly business. Musicians commonly pay to sample music or use someone’s beats and there should be no difference when ‘sampling’ artist’s visuals…I really like Riri – we’ve actually worked together before. I think about her everytime I’m caught in the rain without my umbrella” he explained.

If you’re looking to point fingers, this is actually video director Matsoukas’ second plagiarism incident. She first came under fire for Rihanna’s video “Rude Boy” which called out for being very similar to M.I.A‘s “Boyz” video.

Luckily, LaChapelle doesn’t have to worry too much because since its release in February the video has been banned in 11 countries. Judge for yourself and watch the controversial “S&M” music video below.

[source, images]