Kylie Jenner sued

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Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner has been hit with a lawsuit for allegedly copying an artist's work in promotional material for her new reality show Life of Kylie.

Artist Sarah Pope filed a lawsuit at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday against Kylie, executives at E! Entertainment, who will air the Keeping Up with the Kardashians spin-off, and its parent company NBCUniversal.

In the lawsuit, she claims they knowingly copied her 2015 art piece Temptation Neon, of dripping glossy lips in a biting pose surrounded by a neon tube, and used it on social media and in a commercial for the upcoming show, which premieres on 6 August.

"Artists like Ms. Pope rely on recognition - not only of their artwork, but also of their identities and their originality - to give value to their work," her lawyers state in the paperwork, according to the New York Daily News.

"Defendants used Temptation Neon without permission in promotional social media posts and in a promotional video featured online and in advertisements across the United States. They are building their brand and goodwill at Ms. Pope's expense."

Pope, who is seeking real and punitive damages, also claimed in her lawsuit that Jenner has a history of using other people's work, citing Kylie and her sister Kendall's recent use of unlicensed photographs of stars including Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G with their own faces plastered over the top on T-shirts for their fashion line. Following the backlash, the siblings pulled the controversial items from the market.

A source has told the publication the promotional materials for Life of Kylie were independently created by a third party agency and the 19-year-old was not involved in the process at all.

Kylie was previously threatened with a lawsuit by make-up artist Vlada Haggerty and photographer Julia Kuzmenko McKim for allegedly recreating one of their images for a 2016 promotional campaign for Kylie Cosmetics. After Vlada called her out on social media, Kylie avoided a potential battle by promoting her official shots on her Instagram page.