The Jamaican director, choreographer, author, actor and dancer, Dr L’Antoinette Stines, is suing superstar recording artists Beyonce and Jay-Z, alleging that they used her voice in “Black Effect,” a track included on their 2018 album “Everything Is Love,” without giving her proper credit or compensation. The case has implications for the rights of artists in the digital age.
The case: 5 things to know
1. According to Dr Stines, the Carters approached her in 2018 to provide dancers for a video project designed to promote their upcoming tour. She was also asked to record her insights on love, which she was assured would be used only for promotional purposes.
2. After the contract signing, when Dr Stine was assured by representatives of Beyonce and Jay-Z that the details didn’t matter as her work would only be used for promotional purposes, she was surprised to learn that her voiced insights had been used as a central element in “Black Effect” without receiving any acknowledgment of her contribution or compensation her for it.
3. She says the experience left her feeling “artistically raped,” and she seeks a writing credit as well as financial compensation for an infringement of copyright and violation of her right to publicity.
4. To date, representatives for Beyonce and Jay-Z have not made any public response regarding the claims made by Dr. Stines.
Dr L’Antoinette Stines: 5 things to know
1. Dr Stines earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, in 2010. She has been honored with awards many times for her contributions to the creative arts and promotion of Jamaican and Caribbean culture worldwide.
2. Known professionally as L’Antoinette Ọṣun Awade Wemo Stines, she founded “L’Acadco: A United Caribbean Dance Force” in 1978, a chiefly Black dance company based in Jamaica that brought together Spanish, African American, and Caucasian communities.
3. She is the creator of the first Anglo Caribbean Modern Contemporary training procedure known as “L’Antech,” which combines African influences and folklore of the Caribbean in a dominant Jamaican Afro-Caribbean form. Stines is the first artistic director in Jamaica to fight for the payment of dancers.
4. She has gained worldwide acclaim for her work as a choreography, professor of technique, and teacher and was the first choreographer to showcase dancehall through her work “Bouyaka Bouyaka” on a proscenium stage at Kingston’s Little Theatre.
5. She is a well known international lecturer on traditional dance forms, including Kumina, Bruckins, Nyabinghi, Dancehall, and L’Antech, the contemporary dance synthesis and was the first choreographer to showcase Dancehall on a proscenium stage at the Little Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica in her renowned piece called “Bouyaka Bouyaka” in 1984.
Photo – Deposit Photos and L’Antoinette Stines
