Beyoncé “Formation” lawsuit dismissed, another brought
Beyoncé’s hit “Formation” is at the centre of another copyright lawsuit.
The latest claim was filed by Kimberly Roberts, the subject of a Hurricane Katrina documentary, the day before a US court dismissed another copyright claim relating to the track.
Roberts filed a lawsuit against Prettybird Pictures, the makers of Beyoncé’s “Formation” video, at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, on Sunday, February 4.
The star of the Oscar-nominated documentary, “Trouble the Water”, said that the “Formation” video features clips from the documentary. She is seeking damages for the “surreptitious taking” of her IP, according to the claim.
A portion of the documentary was authorised for use in the “Formation” video in return for payment and royalties, but Roberts claims she has not received royalties. She also said the documentary clip has been used in Beyoncé’s concerts and other music videos without permission.
The same Louisiana court dismissed a $20 million copyright lawsuit against Beyoncé on Monday February 5, following the parties’ submission of a joint stipulation for dismissal on the same day.
The estate of Anthony Barré, a deceased New Orleans rapper also known as Messy Mya, filed the claim in February 2017 against the Grammy award-winning singer.
The estate alleged that Beyoncé had misappropriated phrases used by Barré in his YouTube videos in her “Formation” music video and track, featured on the album “Lemonade”.
According to the claim, “Formation” begins with the voice of Barré repeating phrases featured in the rapper’s own YouTube material, reported WIPR.
The estate requested damages to the tune of $20 million.
Beyoncé filed a motion to dismiss in April, arguing that “the use of ten or fewer seconds of audio from the YouTube videos is protected by the fair use doctrine” and that the claim “grossly overstated” the use of Barré’s material.
The motion was denied in July, as it had not been shown that the claims were “redundant”.
In September, Beyoncé filed a further response to the suit denying all infringement. She also claimed that she had the appropriate licence for the content and raised the defence of unclean hands.
The joint stipulation of dismissal said that the parties agreed to “the dismissal with prejudice of all claims asserted” and that each party is to bear its own costs.
Terms of the parties’ agreement itself have not been released. WIPR has contacted both parties for further information.
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