Beyonce, Jay Z and fellow artists team up for lawsuit against ElevenParis

In response to the allegations against ElevenParis brought forward by Beyonce, Jay Z, Rihanna and Pharrell Williams, the fashion retailer said the following: "Following the announcement yesterday regarding The French ready-to-wear company Eleven Paris and a dispute with celebrities regarding the selling of items featuring the celebrity or their lyrics, Eleven Paris confirm that negotiations have been underway for almost a year."

"Eleven Paris is determined to achieve a fair and balanced agreement with the celebrities and their advisers."

London - Artists Beyonce, Jay Z, Rihanna, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West have all teamed up to launch a lawsuit against fashion retailer ElevenParis for selling shirts, hats and accessories such as mobile phone cases which bear their likeness and names without their permission.

The lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in New York, stipulates that ElevenParis "brazenly" went on selling its offering and ignored multiple warnings sent by the artists which asked the retailer to cease sales, including in a store New York's SoHo district and online.

Artists accuse ElevenParis of usurping their trademarks and images

The artists accuse ElevenParis of being "habitual, willful intellectual property infringers that, without authorization, usurp the trademarks, copyrights and other rights of A-list celebrities."

The complaint, which includes 58 claims that include a violation of publicity rights, trademark infringement and unfair competition in regards to ElevenParis products which beared slogans such as 'Kanye is my Homie' as well as copyrights song lyrics.

"[ElevenParis' actions] have caused and are causing immediate irreparable harm to the plaintiffs, who seek to recoup profits and triple damages over the allegations of trademark infringement and violations of their rights of publicity," added the complaint.

Each of the artist involved in the lawsuit is especially careful of the image they have created around themselves in the fashion world as they either have their own clothing line or launched branded collaboration with selected partners, which have generated "hundreds of millions of dollars" in sales, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes after Rihanna was named the victor in a similar legal claim with Topshop, after the store used an unauthorised photo of her on a t-shirt.