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J.Lo's "Glad" Making People Mad
J.Lo may be glad, but the feeling's not contagious.
A former dancer who claims Lopez's video for the single "I'm Glad" is an unauthorized depiction of her life filed a suit against the performer in federal court in Los Angeles Thursday.
The plaintiff, Maureen Marder, served as the real-life inspiration for 1983's Flashdance, starring Jennifer Beals as a construction worker by day, dancer by night.
The movie in turn served as the inspiration for Lopez's video, which the former Fly Girl called an "homage" to the original.
Flashdance was a smash hit at the box office, becoming a cultural phenom--who could forget all those cut-off sweatshirts? Marder, however, earned only $2,300 for her contribution to the film, leaving her bitter and unwilling to grant sequel rights or permit any further use of her identity or story.
Twenty years later, Sony released the video for "I'm Glad" in spring 2003. Many of the defining and well-known scenes from Flashdance are featured--recreated à la Lopez. The video received positive reviews, played in heavy rotation on MTV and has been a commercial success--however, neither Jenny from the Block nor Sony ever thought to ask anyone's permission to make the video, and Marder has received nary a dime.
"Flashdance owes both its story and its soul to Maureen Marder," said her lawyer, Robert Helfing. "But she received almost nothing for her contribution, accepting a small sum of cash from the producers who told her the movie was only generally about dancing and would not feature the details of her life.
"In the last 20 years, she has tried to put that betrayal behind her, but she is penniless, disabled with a spinal injury, and trying to raise a teenage daughter. Now her life story is on the screen again--and other people are profiting from it--with no acknowledgement of her rights, let alone fair compensation for her contribution."
Helfing stated that he and his client tried to settle the matter out of court, but could not get Lopez to lend her attention to the matter.
"We tried to resolve this claim without litigation, but Sony and Lopez ignored us. And Paramount denies that Ms. Marder has any rights," Helfing said. "We filed the suit because Maureen can't let this happen to her again."
Camp Lopez remained mum on the topic of the suit, merely telling E!, "We don't think it's appropriate to comment on a complaint we haven't even seen."
This is the second time the video has drawn unwanted attention. Back in May, Paramount sent a letter to Lopez's record label claiming the "I'm Glad" clip was more rip-off than tribute. The studio claimed its copyright on Flashdance had been violated because Epic Records didn't ask (or pay) for permission. Eventually, the beef was dropped after the two sides reached an undisclosed deal.
La Lopez has been keeping herself busy of late, with the launch of a new line of lingerie through her Sweetface Fashion Company, numerous upcoming gigs in the show-biz world and future occasional cameo appearances on a daytime talk show hosted by sister Lynda.
Her quest to truly seal the fusion that is Bennifer is still apparently in the works as well--though where the nuptials will take place is up for grabs. Some reports say New York, some say California--we say, get it over with already.
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