Beyoncé's Music Label Sued For Copyright Infringement Over 2022 Release Of 'RENAISSANCE'

Beyoncé's music label, Parkwood Entertainment, which she founded in 2008, is being sued for copyright infringement.

In a lawsuit filed on behalf of Shuji Hirose, owner of the independent music label Soundmen on Wax Records, the label claims Beyoncé used a sample of a popular 1998 dance track to which it owns the rights.

The lawsuit alleges that while Beyoncé's team obtained permission to sample the music, they did so from the wrong person.

According to Billboard, Hirose and his attorneys officially filed a lawsuit against Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment, Sony, Warner Chappell, and the musician Foremost Poets (John Holiday), who performs the song "Moonraker." Beyoncé is not listed as a defendant.

The legal papers claim that Beyoncé's 2022 single, "Alien Superstar," which comes from her chart-topping seventh studio album, "RENAISSANCE," features a sample of "Moonraker" that was not properly cleared.

The sample in question appears at the beginning of Beyoncé's track. "Please do not be alarmed, remain calm," the lyrics state. "Do not attempt to leave the dancefloor / The DJ booth is conducting a troubleshoot test of the entire system."

The lawsuit reveals that Beyoncé's team did clear the song with the original musician, Holiday. The problem, however, is that Holiday allegedly does not actually own the rights to the master recording.

"Despite widespread domestic and international distribution and publication of the sound recording 'Moonraker' by Soundmen on Wax Ltd. since 1998, defendants Parkwood, Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Publishing opted to contract with defendant Holiday for a master use license of the sound recording 'Moonraker' to create the infringing derivative work, 'Alien Superstar,'" the lawsuit reads.

Hirose and his attorneys are suing Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment for copyright infringement, seeking "a portion of the royalties and sale profits" from the 2022 single.

This isn't the first time Beyoncé has battled claims of copyright infringement regarding her 2022 album and some of its tracks.

In October 2022, the popular band Right Said Fred publicly claimed the "Single Ladies" singer used a sample of their song, "I'm Too Sexy," on "Alien Superstar" without their permission.

"Normally the artist approaches us, but Beyoncé didn't because she is such an arrogant person," the group said. "She just had probably thought, ‘Come and get me,' so we heard about it after the fact when you did."

"To use our melody, they need our permission so they send us the demo and we approve it and if so, we get a co-write credit," the band continued. "With this Beyoncé thing, there are 22 writers. It's ridiculous, so we would get about 40 [pounds]."

The group continued, "We can't stop it," adding, "There is nothing we can do. It is sh-t."

"You are going to get into a conversation with someone who has a lot more presence and power and money than we do. And that won't go well. It's best to let it go. If you're not careful you spend your life looking back. We keep looking forward the whole time," they added.

Beyoncé and her camp responded to the band's claims in a statement to E! News, labeling the allegations "erroneous and incredibly disparaging."

"Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album," Beyoncé said. "For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilized. Permission was asked of their publisher on May 11, 2022, and the publisher approved the use on June 15, 2022. They were paid for the usage in August 2022."

The 35-time-Grammy winner also received pushback from singer Kelis, who performed the popular 2003 hit "Milkshake."

Beyoncé initially used a sample of the song in her 2022 track "ENERGY;" however, after Kelis posted a video alleging Beyoncé hadn't asked for permission, the mother of three removed the sample from the track.

Days later, Pharrell Williams jumped into the mix, defending Beyoncé's usage of the track and implying that Kelis had nothing to be upset over. "I wish [Kelis] the absolute best," he said, adding, "But I wrote this song."