Rihanna Sued by a Photographer Over Her 'S and M' Music Video

Rihanna is being sued by a photographer over the music video for her single "S&M". Daily Mail reports that Philipp Paulus, a 22-year-old photographer from Germany, claims some scenes in the pop star's clip are based on his fashion photography series "Paperworld".

Paulus' work features a red-gown clad woman being pressed up against a wall with transparent plastic marked with black Xs. That's similar to Rihanna's video, which sees the "Umbrella" singer standing in front of a blue wall while being wrapped with plastic.

Back in 2011, Paulus attempted legal action against Rihanna and Universal Music Group, the singer's record label which produced the video. Paulus now files for damages and for an injunction.

Paulus' lawyer, Philip Jakober, has said that Universal Music has admitted that the similarities between the photographer's work and Rihanna's clip do exist. However, the label hasn't offered to settle the matter out of court.

"The ludicrous thing about this situation is that Universal Music has for some time been bringing about a wave of lawsuits against end users for copyright infringements, yet as far as our case is concerned the usage from the photo series 'Paperworld' by Philipp Paulus in the music video 'S&M' is a serious and worldwide infringement of copyright, which is the responsibility of Universal Music," Jakober commented on the case.

If the case is won by Paulus, Universal may be banned from broadcasting Rihanna's "S&M" video via any medium across the world.