Lady Gaga Wins “Born This Way” Video Plagiarism Lawsuit
Back in 2013, French artist Orlan sued Lady Gaga for $31.7 million, arguing that the “Born This Way” video not only copies Orlan’s prior works, but copies to the extent that it amounts to forgery. But a French court has now ruled in Gaga’s favor, ordering Orlan to pay Gaga’s camp €20,000 ($22,000), according to Artnet’s translation of a report in Le Journal des Arts.
At issue were the facial prosthetics Gaga wore in the video — Gaga’s were of course cosmetic, but Orlan got similar ones surgically implanted into her face in the early ’90s as a performance art piece.
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Orlan told the paper she’ll be appealing the decision. In the meantime, she has the US case to fall back on: In January, the artist filed a similar lawsuit in the New York court system, aiming to depose the video’s creative team, including fashion director Nicola Formichetti and make-up artist Billy Brasfield. At the time, Gaga’s reps called the move “nothing but an attempt by the plaintiff to generate US press coverage around a meritless case that was filed in France several years ago.”
