U2 album cover a 'rip off'

AN AMERICAN musician has accused U2 of copying one of his album covers for their own.

Taylor Deupree, who also owns the 12k record label, said the sleeve for the Irish rock band's new album No Line On The Horizon is the same image as his 2006 album 'Specification. Fifteen'.

Both covers are based on a photograph by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Ranting on his blog, which he called "U2 Album Cover…Have I Seen This Before?', he said the band had not researched their cover properly.

He wrote: "U2's forthcoming album 'No Line On The Horizon' is nearly an exact rip-off of mine and Richard Chartier's 'Specification. Fifteen', which came out a couple of years ago."

But he added that it would not become a legal matter.

He said: "This minor ordeal has become more a question of a project that was small, intimate and experimental (and the chance of a lifetime for a small artist) versus the massive pop culture machine. In the end, we all know who wins."