A poster for Solo: A Star Wars Story Photo : Disney/Lucasfilm

Solo: A Star Wars Story is currently being promoted with a series of stylish, colorful posters. According to one French artist, those posters are plagiarizing his work.


The accuser is Hachim Bahous, an artist who designed a series of album covers for Sony Music France that, according to him, lay out the template followed by Disney’s Solo posters. He posted a comparison shot on Facebook, originally in French, with Disney’s work on one side and his own on the other, along with text saying, in part: “I am flattered that the quality of my work is recognized, but it is still pure and simple forgery, I have not been asked for my permission, I wish to be credited and paid for this work I have done for Sony!”


The posters, designed by BLT Communications according to IMP Awards, share some visual elements with Bahous’s work, including stylized typography, featuring images inside the lettering, and similar vibrant color schemes. The individual artists behind the Solo posters are at this time unknown, and there does not seem to be any extant commentary from the creators or Disney discussing the stylistic influences or inspiration behind the posters.

io9 has reached out to Disney for comment on Bahous’s allegations, but as of press time have not heard back. Solo: A Star Wars Story is due to be released in theaters May 25, 2018.

Update, 3/5/18: A spokesperson for Disney told The Hollywood Reporter that “the posters were created by an outside vendor and it’s something we are currently looking into.”

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