Following the use of a sample in her 2022 ‘Break My Soul’ single, Beyoncé is being sued for alleged copyright infringement.
On Wednesday (5.22,) members of Da Showstoppaz filed a lawsuit in Louisiana federal court claiming that Big Freedia’s 2014 track ‘Explode,’ was illegally sampled and used “copyrighted lyrics, melody, and musical arrangement” from their 2002 song ‘Release a Wiggle.’
Da Showstoppaz members – Tessa Avie, Keva Bourgeois, Henri Braggs, and Brian Clark – are suing Beyoncé, her husband Jay-Z, Big Freedia and Sony Music, among other defendants.
According to USA Today, the lawsuit “Explode infringes on Da Showstoppaz’s Release A Wiggle twelve times, as the infringing phrase ‘release yo’ wiggle’ and several other substantially similar phrases are featured prominently in the song and evenly spread out across Explode’s furious two-minute and forty-seven second runtime.” “Any reasonable person listening to Release A Wiggle and Explode would conclude that the songs are substantially similar.”
The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants received substantial profits for ‘Break My Soul,’ Beyoncé’s album Renaissance, the Renaissance World Tour and her subsequent concert film while they have “received nothing – no acknowledgment, no credit, no remuneration of any kind”.
Da Showstoppaz have requested credit on both ‘Explode’ and ‘Break My Soul’ as well as royalties for future uses of both songs, and damages in relation to the profits Beyoncé and Big Freedia have made from the tracks already.
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Author: Al Dente
Photo: Asterio Tecson