UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTSOUTHERN DISTRICTOFNEW YORK

Civil ActionNo.16-CV-4278

JURYDEMANDEDCOMPLAINT

Plaintiff Matthew Fulks ("Fulks" or "Plaintiff")brings the following claimsof copyrightinfringementagainst DefendantsBeyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter("Beyonce"),Sony MusicEntertainment("Sony"),ColumbiaRecording Corporation("Columbia"),andParkwoodEntertainmentLLC("Parkwood")(collectively"Defendants").

MATTHEW FULKS,v.BEYONCÉ GISELLEKNOWLES-CARTER,SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT INC.,COLUMBIA RECORDINGCORPORATION,PARKWOOD ENTERTAINMENT LLC,Defendants.

Case 1:16-cv-04278 Document 1 Filed 06/08/16 Page 1 of 28

 

1

INTRODUCTION

1.Plaintiff is an individualresident of Louisville, Kentuckywho works asanindependent film maker

. Plaintiffs

work includes the production ofshort filmsforrecordinglabelsfor usein the production ofvideospromoting musical works.2.Plaintiff is also employed as the Creative Director attelevisionstation WDRB,

the markets

number one rankednews station,where he conceptualizes,writes, and directstelevision advertisements.3.Plaintiff is theauthorof 

 PALINOIA

, a short filmdepictingthepainof atumultuousrelationship

(“

PALINOIA

Work”)

.Plaintiffcompletedcreation ofthe

 PALINOIA

Workin July 2014, with thecreativeprocess beginning in January 2014.4.The

 PALINOIA

Workis an original creation that is distinctive within theshortfilm genreandcombinescarefully selected but seeminglyunrelatedvisualsin arapid montage,with the recitation of a poem used as voiceover against adistinctive audio soundtrack.5.Non-partyBryan Younce is theSenior Vice-President of Video and ContentProductionat Columbia Music Entertainment.Exhibit1.6.Upon information and belief, Youncecommissionsdirectors and producers tocreateaudiovisual contentto accompanyand/or promote the musicrecorded on the Columbialabel.7.According tothe web siteswww.allaccess.comandwww.fmqb.com, Younce hassupervisedthe creation ofvideos andothervisual content forDefendantBeyoncé GiselleKnowles-Carter (

“

Beyonce

”

).Exhibits2 and 3.

Case 1:16-cv-04278 Document 1 Filed 06/08/16 Page 2 of 28

 

28.Beyonce'sofficialwebsite,www.beyonce.com,listsBryan Younceamong thosecredited for working on

Beyonces

2013album,

 Beyoncé 

,produced byColumbia Records/SonyMusic.Exhibit4.9.In July2015,non-partyChris Thomas, an artist manager at C3 PresentsLLC

(“C3”)

in San Antonio, Texas, contacted Plaintiff about anopportunityto direct and produce avideo for themusical groupMSMR, also represented by C3 and affiliated with Columbia.Exhibit5.10.On July 22, 2015,ChrisThomas emailed MS MR's manager Brian Becklinks toPlaintiff's work, includinga link to the complete

 PALINOIA

Work.Exhibit6.11.On July 24,2015, MS MR manager Brian Beck forwarded the email string thatincludedthe link 

to Plaintiffs

 PALINOIA

Work to Younceat Columbia. Exhibit6.12.On July 24, 2015, Younce sent a follow-up email toBrian Beckrequesting

Plaintiffs email address.

The e

mail string included Chris Thomass ori

ginal July 22, 2015 emailtoMS MR management that containedlinks to the

 PALINOIA

Work. Exhibit6.In the sameemail string, Younce notes that he previouslytried to reach Plaintiff through the video sharingsite "Vimeo" without success. Exhibit6.13.

Chris Thomas provided the MS MR manager with Plaintiffs contact information

by email and textdated July 29, 2016. Exhibit6.14.On July 29, 2015,the same day that Chris Thomas providedYouncewith

Plaintiffs

contact information, Youncecontacted Plaintiffdirectlyby emailacknowledgingthathe had received Plaintiff 

’s “info

.

”

Younceinvited Plaintiffto submit additionalstoryboardsandadevelopment plan

(commonly referred to as a “treatment”

)for considerationby Columbia.Exhibit7.

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