--- description: An independent filmmaker says the singer's trailer for her latest visual album cribbed from one of his films. title: Beyoncé Sued Over 'Lemonade' Trailer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb27dacf867edf91/69888f69ab6d7748b46a9482/screen-shot-2016-04-18-at-12-14-41-pm.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Beyoncé Sued Over _Lemonade_ Trailer by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2016 11:22 PM CUT  Beyonce in the trailer for 'Lemonade,' which she released on Sunday Beyonce in the trailer for 'Lemonade,' which she released on SundayBeyonce—Instagram by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2016 11:22 PM CUT Beyoncé is [facing a lawsuit](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/beyonce-sued-lemonade-trailer-900935 "undefined") after an independent filmmaker says the pop star copied his short film in the trailer for her recent visual album _Lemonade_. Matthew Fulks, the plaintiff, says that nine visual elements in 39 seconds of the 60-second trailer were lifted from his film [_Palinoia_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IDzk0QY%5F64 "undefined"), according to the _Hollywood Reporter_, including [_Lemonade_](http://time.com/4314347/beyonce-makes-history-with-record-breaking-lemonade/ "undefined")‘s parking garage scene. “The number of aesthetic decisions included in Plaintiff’s PALINOIA Work that are parroted in Defendants’ LEMONADE Trailer demonstrates that the LEMONADE Trailer is substantially similar to the PALINOIA Work,” reads the complaint, which was filed in New York. “The misappropriated content includes both the particular elements that the Plaintiff chose to comprise the PALINOIA Work and the coordination and arrangement of those particular elements.” Fulks, a filmmaker and creative director at a Louisville, Kentucky news station, has a theory for how his work may have come across Beyoncé’s creative team. According to the _Hollywood Reporter,_ Fulks says he was contacted by another artist on Beyoncé’s label Columbia Records, and that links to _Palinoia_ were sent to Bryan Younce, who has directed videos for the singer in the past. Beyoncé’s sixth studio album and second visual album [_Lemonade_ was released on April 23 as a 60-minute film](http://time.com/money/4361495/beyonce-lemonade-platinum-sales/ "undefined") airing on HBO, with little announcement—[other than the trailer, which dropped a week beforehand](http://time.com/4296870/beyonce-teases-mysterious-lemonade-hbo-event/ "undefined"). Representatives for Beyoncé could not be reached for comment by press time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4362209/beyonce-lemonade-trailer-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4362209/beyonce-lemonade-trailer-lawsuit/"},"headline":"Beyoncé Sued Over Lemonade Trailer","datePublished":"2016-06-08T23:22:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:29:02.896Z","description":"An independent filmmaker says the singer's trailer for her latest visual album cribbed from one of his films","url":"https://time.com/4362209/beyonce-lemonade-trailer-lawsuit/","keywords":["celebrities","Music","Beyonce","Lemonade"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb27dacf867edf91/69888f69ab6d7748b46a9482/screen-shot-2016-04-18-at-12-14-41-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb27dacf867edf91/69888f69ab6d7748b46a9482/screen-shot-2016-04-18-at-12-14-41-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 12.14.41 PM","caption":"Beyonce in the trailer for 'Lemonade,' which she released on Sunday","creditText":"Beyonce—Instagram","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4362209/beyonce-lemonade-trailer-lawsuit/","name":"Beyoncé Sued Over Lemonade Trailer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Beyonce's New Album 'Lemonade' is Finally Here","description":"During the HBO broadcast Saturday night, the singer made her new album available on Tidal-- husband Jay Z’s streaming platform.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0xf4m6JM/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-24T19:49:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0xf4m6JM.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4362209/beyonce-lemonade-trailer-lawsuit/","duration":"PT1M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4362209/beyonce-lemonade-trailer-lawsuit/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```