Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Others Hit With Lawsuit Over ‘Break My Soul’ Lyric
Sony Music, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Big Freedia have been hit with a lawsuit. Several reports say that they are being sued by a former New Orleans-based group alleging copyright infringement involving the phrase “release a wiggle” in the song Break My Soul.
USA Today reported that the federal copyright lawsuit, filed May 22 in the Eastern District of Louisiana, the bounce group that once performed as “Da Showstoppaz” is accusing Big Freedia of illegally using the three-word phrase in her 2014 song Explode.
They said in the suit, that four members of the group Tessa Avie, Keva Bourgeois, Henri Braggs, and Brian Clark, allege Big Freedia took the phrase from the 2002 single “Release A Wiggle” produced by them. The song was featured on a mixtape sold by BlackHouse Entertainment.
Who is being sued?
Many fans know that Beyoncé sampled Big Freedia’s song Explode on her smash hit Break My Soul, from her 2022 seventh studio album Renaissance. Beyoncé’s name has been added to the lawsuit along with other and writers and producers credited on the album, including Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z. Additionally, companies affiliated with the release of both songs are also named as defendants.
Music Business Worldiwde reported that the suit claims, “Da Showstoppaz have a copyright to their unique and distinctive lyrics and musical composition, ‘Release A Wiggle.’ Big Freedia had access to ‘Release A Wiggle,’ which was subsequently sampled by ‘Break My Soul’ by Mrs. Carter. Therefore, by copying ‘Release A Wiggle” in ‘Explode,’ Big Freedia infringed on Da Showstoppaz’s copyrights.”
The group is asking to be credited on both “Explode” and “Break My Soul” and to receive royalties for future uses of both songs and “damages in relation to profits” Big Freedia and Beyoncé made for the songs, as well as the singer’s corresponding tour and film, Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce.
Not the first lawsuit for Bey and Jay-Z
In 2020, CBS News reported that Beyoncé and Jay-Z were accused of not giving Lenora Stines credit for her contribution on the couple’s 2018 single Black Effect. The couple faced a copyright infringement lawsuit in Los Angeles for allegedly using the monologue voiced by an uncredited Jamaican choreographer.
According to Business Insider, it can take years going through the court system to resolve a copyright claim. Although musical works enjoy copyright protection from the moment they’re first written down or recorded, “the owners of such works can’t sue for copyright infringement without first registering their works with the US Copyright Office in Washington, DC.” They also mention that it’s always a good idea to complete the registration process as soon as possible after a work is first created or at the same time as initial publication.
