E! Online Article on Bourdin Lawsuit
Madonna’s Sexy Poses a Rip-Off?
by Lia Haberman – E! Online
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And then sometimes it isn’t.
The son of a late fashion photographer has slapped a lawsuit on Madonna, claiming the Material One copied his dad’s racy images in a set of videos for her track “Hollywood.”
Samuel Bourdin, who claims ownership to the images created by his father, Guy Bourdin, who died in 1991, filed suit on Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
According to the lawsuit, Madge is accused of copyright infringement for reenacting poses and images from at least 11 of Bourdin’s photographs, the bulk of which were published in French Vogue from the mid ’50s through the late ’80s.
“It’s one thing to draw inspiration; it’s quite another to simply plagiarize the heart and soul of my father’s work,” Samuel Bourdin said in a statement.
Bourdin Jr. wants unspecified damages from Madonna, her record company, MTV and director Jean-Baptiste Mondino, among others, for the creative “sampling.”
A rep for the superstar said, “Madonna hasn’t been served yet, so there’s no comment for now.”
The elder Bourdin, whose work was the subject of a retrospective at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum this summer, is hailed as an groundbreaking cameraman for changing the face of fashion photography by creating a complex narrative around an item or model, rather than just focusing on the product.
The suit includes comparisons of Bourdin’s work to images from the “Hollywood” video. In one Bourdin picture, published online by the Smoking Gun, a lingerie-clad woman straddles a chair against a steamy red backdrop. Ditto Madonna.
In another Bourdin image, a nearly naked woman straddles a black-and-white TV. Same goes for Madonna. And the list goes on: A woman in red undies checks herself out in round mirror. Yep, Madonna’s got that montage, too.
Mrs. Guy Ritchie could turn to another diva for infringement advice. J.Lo recently found herself in a similar predicament with her video for “I’m Glad,” an over-the-top homage to Adrian Lyne’s 1983 film Flashdance.
Paramount cried foul and fired off a legal notice to Sony (parent company of Lopez’s label, Epic Records) but ultimately it was a win-win for both sides. The matter was resolved out of court for an unspecified amount, label and studio both got press coverage out of the incident, and J.Lo’s name was instantly linked to a much-rumored remake of Flashdance.
