On the heels of the Kendall and Kylie Jenner vintage T-shirts controversy, Kylie Jenner has been hit with another copyright infringement lawsuit.
This time the suit is over the graphic the 19-year-old reality TV star used for her upcoming E! series, Life of Kylie.
British artist Sara Pope claims Jenner copied one of her best-known pieces called Temptation Neon, which is a painting of white teeth biting glossy lips. The artist said the image is very similar to the graphic used by Jenner on the promo for Life of Kylie.
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Pope is suing the reality star along with E! Entertainment and NBCUniversal, saying they knowingly copied her 2015 artwork without permission.
Pope also says her original work and the alleged copied image are nearly identical, with highly glossed lips in a “lip bite” pose ringed with a neon tube and dripping wet.
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In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Pope claims Jenner has a history of stealing from artists.
“Artists like Ms. Pope rely on recognition — not only of their artwork, but also of their identities and their originality — to give value to their work,” Pope’s lawsuit states.
“Defendants used Temptation Neon without permission in promotional social media posts and in a promotional video featured online and in advertisements across the United States. They are building their brand and goodwill at Ms. Pope’s expense,” the paperwork claims.
Pope’s lawsuit seeks real and punitive damages.
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She points to a recent lawsuit that accused Jenner and her sister, Kendall, of using unlicensed photos of Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur and other music icons for their vintage T-shirts that were superimposed over the sisters’ faces.
The copyright infringement lawsuit Pope references was filed in early July by a commercial photographer who shot the images portrayed on the shirts. The lawsuit by photographer Michael Miller accused the Jenner sisters of using two images of Shakur without his permission.
Miller said the sisters “misappropriated and wrongfully exploited” his work. Miller’s suit added that the Jenners “intended to exploit his photography, let alone obtain his authorization.”
Jenner responded to the photographer’s lawsuit for their now-cancelled T-shirt line.
“The allegations made are completely false and the lawsuit is baseless,” the Jenners’ clothing company said in a statement. “There has been no infringement or violation of anyone’s rights.”
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This is the second time Jenner has been accused of copyright infringement when it comes to lip designs.
In January of this year, makeup artist Vlada Haggerty claimed the “dripping lips” logo on Jenner’s lip-kit packaging was copied from the work she had posted to her Instagram account.
“Vlada Haggerty is known for pioneering the dripping lip art style. This is the second time that Kylie Cosmetics has taken images without any acknowledgement and without the payment of a proper licensing fee, which amounts to copyright infringement,” the artist’s attorney, Stephen McArthur, wrote in a statement. “Additionally, Kylie Cosmetics sells its products under a logo that is so similar to the dripping lip art style that symbolizes Ms. Haggerty’s makeup artist brand that she receives daily inquires as to whether she is associated with Kylie Cosmetics.”
Haggerty later posted that any issue between her and Jenner had been “resolved,” after Jenner shared a photo of Haggerty’s work on her own Instagram account.
Jenner, E! Entertainment and NBCUniversal have yet to comment on Pope’s copyright infringement lawsuit.
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