London, January 22 : Irish rockers U2 have been accused by a U. S. musician of stealing the artwork from one of his albums for the cover of their forthcoming album `No Line On The Horizon'.

Taylor Deupree, who owns the record label 12k, claims that the artwork on U2's album uses the same image as his 2006 album `Specification. Fifteen', a collaboration with Richard Chartier.

The photograph featuring on both albums originally belongs to Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, but the U. S. star is adamant that U2 should have done extensive research before selecting the image.

"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," the Daily Star quoted Deupree as writing in an entry on the 12kblog entitled `U2 Album Cover? Have I Seen This Before?'.

Deupree, however, has decided not to bring any legal action against U2 because he is certain that he would lose the case.

"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," he said. (ANI)