EXCLUSIVE

Kendrick Lamar and SZA were monumentally huge artists and that's what propelled the soundtrack for "Black Panther" ... not a 19-second clip an artist claims was a rip-off of her artwork.

Kendrick and SZA just filed legal docs asking a judge to give Lena Iris Viktor the boot in her lawsuit which claims Kendrick and Co. ripped off her artwork in the music video for "All the Stars."

Kendrick and SZA claim in the new docs ... even if the artwork in the video was a rip-off, she's not entitled to the profits they made from the song because "common sense and logic dictate that the alleged 19 second use of the artwork in the video" is not what generated the success of the song.

The duo goes on to say the success of the album is the result of his "worldwide popularity as well as numerous accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize and dozens of Grammys."