Beyoncé Hit With Cease-and-Desist Letter Over Cowboy Carter Concert Footage; Here's Why

Beyoncé has found herself under legal threat over her ongoing Cowboy Carter tour. Sphere Entertainment Co., which owns Las Vegas' cutting-edge concert arena The Sphere, sent a cease-and-desist notice to the singer.

The legal letter requires Queen Bey to drop the video segment, which allegedly infringes the company's intellectual property from her ongoing Cowboy Carter tour imagery.

The controversy surrounds a short concert interlude in which a CGI projection of the gigantic Sphere appears onscreen, per Billboard. During the segment, the Diva hitmaker is shown as a giant walking out and picking up the digital iteration of the venue and juggling it. The scene became a viral sensation and fueled speculation over a possible Las Vegas residency.

Per Billboard, a preliminary report on the letter by the New York Post alleges that her production firm, Parkwood Entertainment, infringed on the use of the venue's image without permission. The legal filing terms the use as an infringement of intellectual property rights.

Sphere Entertainment argued that although the majority of the elements in the visuals of the tour, like music, video footage, and other brands, were probably cleared through official channels, their location was not.

The legal document states, as per the outlet, "It has recently come to SEG’s attention that a Cowboy Carter tour interlude video contains the unauthorized use of SEG’s intellectual property. [...] SEG, however, was never asked, and the prominent appearance and manipulation of SEG’s Sphere™ venue in the video is unauthorized."

It calls for the immediate withdrawal of the Sphere imagery from all of the singer's shows, merchandise, promotional material, and future media. So far, Beyoncé's camp has not commented on the legal drama. Her tour will, however, continue to progress with shows set in Las Vegas on July 25 and 26 at Allegiant Stadium.

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