Copyright
Plagiarism claims hit Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas have been slapped with two separate copyright infringement lawsuits by musicians who claim the group stole material for hit songs I Gotta Feeling and Boom Boom Pow.
Texas songwriter Bryan Pringle alleges members of the group intentionally copied his song Take a Dive when they co-wrote their Grammy-award winning I Gotta Feeling, according to the lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Pringle, who says he copyrighted his single in 1998, also claims he submitted demo CDs to Interscope Records, UMG Recordings and EMI over a period of 10 years, which they admitted they had received but had no interest in signing him as an artist.
The other complaint is a re-filing in Los Angeles federal court of a lawsuit brought in January by Chicago artist Ebony Latrice Batts, aka Phoenix Phenom, and her producer and co-songwriter, Manfred "Manny" Mohr.
The lawsuit, first filed in Chicago, alleges the Black Eyed Peas copied their track Boom Dynamite for the group's hit Boom Boom Pow.
Both plaintiffs are being represented by law firm Miller Canfield, which published legal documents on its website.
The two lawsuits allege that UMG Recordings, Interscope Records and members of the Black Eyed Peas engaged in "a pattern and practice of intentional copyright infringement with respect to the unlawful copying of songs of unknown or lesser-known artists," according to plaintiffs' attorney Dean A. Dickie of Miller Canfield.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages of all net profits received by the Black Eyed Peas as well as future credits and royalty payments.
(Published by Adelaide Now – October 29, 2010)