Emilio Isgrò sues Roger Waters for plagiarism over album cover

Italian visual poet Emilio Isgrò has filed a lawsuit against Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, alleging that the cover of Waters' 2017 album 'Is This the Life We Really Want?' plagiarizes Isgrò's signature 'cancellature' (erasures). The cover features a book page partially obscured by bold black marks, closely resembling Isgrò's conceptual works from his long-running series. Isgrò, born in 1937 in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and based in Milan, is renowned for his contributions to visual poetry and conceptual art, having created his first erasures in 1964. The album, released by Sony on June 2, 2017, was temporarily blocked by a precautionary measure from the Milan civil court, but the court later lifted the block, allowing sales to resume at least until the next hearing on July 19. The court's decision is provisional and not final. Isgrò commented, 'It's a clear plagiarism of my works. That said, I do like Pink Floyd.' The lawsuit also targets the booklet and packaging. Waters has not commented; Sony is handling the case. Isgrò's erasures have been exhibited internationally, including at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Madrid (1987), Palazzo Reale in Milan (2016), and with Galleria Tornabuoni in London and Paris (2017).