Imitation or Plagiarism?

by Sarah Luchay
It’s often been said that, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” But imitation can easily become plagiarism when one artist takes another’s idea and creates a carbon-copy or replication of the work. Such is the case with Rihanna. Rihanna has been treading the legal waters for some time now, with a string of famous fashion photographers calling Rihanna out on what she’s denies as plagiarism of their work. A lover of fashion, Rihanna had to have been aware of the all too coincidental themes, existing in her music videos and the works of the photographers. In plain terms, Rihanna better ‘lawyer up,’ because as the following examples provide, she obviously has taken a handful of ideas, concepts, and themes present in the accusers’ work, and carried them off as her own. Interestingly enough, Rihanna has already settled out of court, with accuser #1 and famed fashion photographer, David LaChapelle. LaChapelle and fans of his work noticed the strikingly similar scenes in Rihanna’s music video, ‘S&M,’ back in February of 2011. Soon after, rumors of a lawsuit ensued. In December of this past year, another fashion photographer accused Rihanna of stealing his work for her music video, ‘You Da One.’ 2012 has not proven to be any better of a year for Rihanna as a third photographer, Sandy Kim, has accused her and her co-director, Melinda Matsouka, of plagiarism. The threat of legal action and the negative attention has not been the greatest start to the new year for the pop princess. Take a look at the evidence below and decide for yourself: imitation or plagiarism? Do you think Rihanna crossed an artistic threshold and stole these photographer’s ideas?

‘S&M’ Video Similarities to David LaChapelle’s shoot, Aristocrats, for Vogue

‘You Da One’ Video Similarities to Solve Sundsbo’s ’2008 Numero 93′ photo collection

‘We Found Love’ Video Similarities to Sandy Kim’s work

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 1:17 am and is filed under Fashion, Lifestyle, Playlist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About the author

Sarah Luchay was born and raised in Southern California. From a young age she had an intense interest in fashion and culture. A world traveler, having lived and studied in London, Sarah developed a keen sense of international style. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University, Sarah is now continuing her education at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in the professional designation program. Sarah Luchay