British Singer Slaps Beyonce with a $150,000 Infringement Suit

17 years ago view-show 503,316

By: Rizoh

      A lawsuit has been filed against Beyonce Knowles for covering another artist’s musical material without permission or proper clearance. British singer Des’Ree (the big-voiced pop vocalist known for her 1994 hit “You Gotta Be”) claims that Jay-Z’s handbag didn’t secure proper clearance to cover her song titled “I’m Kissing You.”

      As the court papers reiterated, the song was used as the love theme from director Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film Romeo and Juliet. But, a covered version of the song appears as "Still in Love (Kissing You)" on Beyonce’s B-Day album.

      Consequently, Bey is now facing charges for copyright infringement. Des’Ree also requested that she cease all distribution of “Still in Love (Kissing You),” the video (for the song), and the album itself. In addition to that, Des’Ree is demanding $150,000 in damages.

      According to MTV News, Beyonce admitted that she had not intended to include a cover of the British singer’s song on her re-released deluxe edition of "B-Day." After being pressured into including it by record execs, the 25 year-old singer “blew off copyright law completely” and went on to record the song anyway, and released the deluxe edition album on April 3rd 2007.

      Meanwhile, Beyonce is rumored to be in the process of dumping her label Sony Urban Music to go join her mega-star boyfriend, Jay-Z, at Def Jam. No official word has been issued by either party.

      We’ll keep you posted…