Beyoncé's "Formation" Video Allegedly Steals Documentary Footage

UPDATE (02/07/15 10:19 AM): "That B.E.A.T." director Chris Black has revealed that Beyoncé's team did try to license footage from his documentary last month, though he maintains a deal was never struck. The film's other director, Abteen Bagheri, apparently denied a request from those involved with "Formation" to gain access to "That B.E.A.T." footage. A representative for Beyoncé, however, tells a different story. 

In a statement shared by the New York Times, Beyoncé's rep explains that all footage taken from "That B.E.A.T." was obtained legally: "The documentary footage was used with permission and licensed from the owner of the footage. They were given proper compensation. The footage was provided to us by the filmmaker’s production company. The filmmaker is listed in the credits for additional photography direction. We are thankful that they granted us permission."

Original text below: 

As is the case with most everything she does, Beyoncé has caused a rupture in the Internet with her new single and accompanying music video. The video, set in New Orleans, features an incredible run of costume changes and other iconic Bey moments that will soon be GIF'd into oblivion. Hours after its release, it seems the video has been met with much praise, though documentarians Chris Black and Abteen Bagheri were not happy to see shots from their mini-documentary, "That B.E.A.T.," directly inserted into the new "Formation" video without permission. 

"That B.E.A.T.," released almost three years ago, is a 9-minute documentary that focuses on the New Orleans-bred genre of bounce music and the culture that surrounds it. The directors of the project, Black and Bagheri, both took to their Twitter accounts upon the release of "Formation" to express their dismay at seeing their work appear uncredited in Bey's new video. 

According to the FADER, the director of "Formation" is Melina Matsoukas, who has been behind past Beyoncé videos like "Pretty Hurts." Following the controversy surrounding the allegedly stolen footage, Matsoukas went on Twitter (for the first time in many months) to offer words of praise to both Black and Bagheri. She wrote that their "beautiful NOLA footage" helped "make #FORMATION whole."