Here's another one to add the long list of heated fair use debates. This time, going head-to-head are fashion photographer David LaChapelle and pop princess Rihanna. A New York judge green-lighted a lawsuit by LaChapelle alleging that Rihanna, her record label Def Jam, and video director Melina Matsoukas are responsible for ripping off his work in her music video "S&M." The pretrial is set to take place on August 10.

According to Reuters, LaChapelle filed a lawsuit claiming that the pop star copied eight of his images for the video's promo and that the "composition, total concept, feel, tone, mood, theme, colors, props, settings, decors, wardrobe and lighting" is a direct copy of his shots.

At first glance, the latex suit Rihanna wears in the "S&M" video does look similar to the LaChapelle photos, but it's up to the court to decide if her team copied LaChapelle's photographs. It's also a question of copyright definition — LaChapelle has a right to claim copyright over his shots, but can he trademark the "concept," "tone," or "mood"? The case seems more validated than Janine Gordon's copyright lawsuit against photographer Ryan McGinley, but both rest on the same principles. 

ARTINFO's attempts for comment from Def Jam went unanswered. LaChapelle has no hard feelings for Rihanna, saying in a statement, "This is not personal, strictly business. Musicians commonly pay to sample music or use someone's beats and there should be no difference when 'sampling' artist's visuals. I really like Rihanna - we've actually worked together before."