Summary: Power couple Beyonce and Jay-Z are being sued over “Drunk in Love” by a Hungarian singer for the use of her vocals without permission.
Last week, Jay-Z and Beyoncé had a civil lawsuit filed against them in New York state court, according to A.V. Club. The lawsuit was filed by a Hungarian Roma singer. The singer claims that the couple’s hit duet, “Drunk in Love,” has a sample of her voice used without her permission.
The singer, Mónika Juhász Miczura, but known as Mitsou, claims that the power couple did not give her credit for “Drunk in Love.” The song reportedly contains a digitally altered sample of her vocals.
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The complaint describes Miczura as “a Hungarian singer of considerable international acclaim.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the vocal sample was taken from her recording of “Bajba, Bajba Pélem” in 1995. The complaint said the song is about “The song is about hopelessness, when one can no longer trust anyone but her own mother and God.”
The lawsuit states the following:
“Following Mitsou’s stirring featured solo vocal introduction, Mitsou’s voice continues to sing as Beyoncé begins to sing, to evoke foreign eroticism alongside the sexually intense lyrics performed by Beyoncé and Jay Z in ‘Drunk in Love’.”
Miczura has said that she learned of the sample in “Drunk in Love” via phone calls from her friends. She alleges that close to one-third of the song features her voice.
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Name as defendants in the lawsuit include Producer Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley and four other producers. Also named are Béyonce’s Parkwood Entertainment, Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment.
The lawsuit is asking for a permanent injunctions to block the defendants from using her voice. It is also asking for attorneys’ fees, compensatory damages and court costs.
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