Beyoncé hit with cease-and-desist letter over tour visuals

Beyoncé faces a cease-and-desist order over unauthorised use of Sphere visuals during her Cowboy Carter tour. Photo / Getty Images

Beyoncé has been sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding she drop some of the visuals from her Cowboy Carter tour.

The Texas Hold ‘Em hitmaker’s production company Parkwood Entertainment was sent the legal warning by James Dolan’s Sphere Entertainment Group (SEG), objecting to footage using their Las Vegas Sphere venue without permission.

A number of fans posted footage online from Beyoncé‘s first concerts in Los Angeles last week, which featured a giant version of the 43-year-old megastar striding through Las Vegas, before picking up a computer-generated version of the distinctive venue and juggling it between her hands, leading to the company taking action.

The letter, which was obtained by the New York Post newspaper, read: “Beyoncé – many orders of magnitude larger than the Sphere venue – leans over, picks up the venue and looms over it.”

Sphere accused Beyoncé of “impermissible use and violation” of the company’s intellectual property rights, which “has resulted in significant speculation that Beyoncé will end her tour with a Sphere residency”.

The letter added: “SEG was never asked and the prominent appearance and manipulation of SEG’s Sphere venue in the video is unauthorised.”

Beyoncé – who has never visited the venue – has been given a deadline of today to stop using the imagery in her videos, otherwise the company “reserves all rights to take further action as SEG deems appropriate without notice”.

In addition, Parkwood were ordered in the letter to “cease and desist from using the Sphere venue in the video immediately – in addition to refraining from using this imagery on any merchandise, promotional or marketing materials, or in tour movies”.

It was claimed last year that the former Destiny’s Child singer had been in talks for months about a residency at the Sphere.

However, negotiations came to a halt over Beyoncé‘s request the venue close for a two-week period so she could rehearse.

Sources told the New York Post at the time such a closure would be a “significant revenue hit”, as the 20,000-seat venue was showing the immersive film Postcards from Earth four times a day, with ticket prices starting at US$104.

And Beyoncé‘s team were said to be asking for around US$10 million to produce her high-tech stage show, roughly the same amount the Sphere paid U2 for their residency.

She was believed to have moved on to discussions with rivals MGM about a possible residency of 100 shows over a four-year period.

A Sphere statement said at the time: “We do not comment on any artists performing at Sphere except for those who have been announced.”