WENN

A visual artist has accused Katy Perry of stealing his work to use on the cover of her single Chained to the Rhythm.

London-based designer Dom Sebastian was browsing Spotify when he noticed striking similarities between artwork promoting the Hot Chip remix of Katy’s track and a piece from his 2012 ‘Holographic Melt’ series.

Dom then took to Instagram to call out the Teenage Dream singer and bosses at her label Capitol Records, writing, “@katyperry has stolen my artwork (this piece is from 2012) and used it on her single cover – I was never contacted by her or anyone from her team or label @capitolrecords.”

Accusing her of unfairly profiting from his work he added: “What’s more is that Katy has been selling my artwork as her own, as merchandise on her store, and through other outlets, as a $35 (£25) print. I’m shocked that @katyperry and @capitolrecords think it is acceptable to lift my work directly from my website and use it as they please without paying me or even contacting me.”

A lithograph featuring the alleged stolen artwork is available from Katy’s online store, but it is currently listed as having sold out.

Dom elaborated on his accusations in an interview with Paper magazine and said he had tried to reach out to Capitol executives and Katy’s team, but had not received a reply.

“I have tried contacting them; Capitol Records make themselves hard to contact, so doing it through social media seems to be the best way of making sure something is done about it. Katy or her team are yet to respond,” he explained.

The artist’s Holographic Melt pictures feature hazy distorted patterns and became popular online after being shared by internet users, and he told Paper that this is not the first time he believes he has seen his work used without permission.

“A similar thing has happened before when I was walking through the London Underground, and saw my work had been incorporated into a company’s advertising campaign on billboards without my permission,” he said.

Chained to the Rhythm was released in February last year, and made the top five in the U.S. and U.K. charts.