Tom Petty’s documentary uses his stolen footage of the late singer, says filmmaker

A filmmaker has filed a lawsuit against Warner Music, claiming that footage of Tom Petty shot in the 1990s was used in a recent documentary without his permission.

In the lawsuit, Martyn Atkins says he never gave the company permission to use his footage in the 2021 documentary “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers.”

The lawsuit goes on to say that Atkins received “no compensation whatsoever for the film’s unauthorized and blatant exploitation of works he created and owned,” Rolling Stone said.

“Somewhere You Feel Free” is about the making of Petty’s 1994 album “Wildflowers.” Atkins shot footage of Petty during that time while working as an art director. The lawsuit states that he and the “American Girl” singer discussed making a documentary at the time.

The lawsuit states that Atkins met with Petty’s daughter after the musician’s death and showed her the footage after being persuaded that he would direct the documentary.

“Atkins was tricked into believing he was producing and directing the film so that Atkins would reveal the location of his footage to the defendants,” the lawsuit states, according to Rolling Stone. “He was then completely edited out – in every way imaginable. He was not even politely told that his work would be misused and shown, let alone asked for his consent.”

Representatives of Warner Music have not yet commented on the lawsuit.