Black Eyed Peas being sued for copying songs

In January of this year, an independent music artist claimed the Black Eyed Peas stole their hit, “Boom Boom Pow,” from her song “Boom Dynamite.” Now the Peas find themselves in more legal trouble as their song “I Gotta Feeling” is under scrutiny for possibly being copied from a demo of another unsigned artist.

The two separate but related lawsuits were filed against the Black Eyed Peas yesterday in Orange County, California. One alleges that the music group stole “Boom Boom Pow” from “Boom Dynamite,” by Chicago singer/songwriter Phoenix Phenom and her producer Mandref Mohr. The other accuses the Peas of copying their Grammy-winning “I Gotta Feeling” from “Take a Dive,” a song by Texas songwriter Bryan Pringle. Pringle copyrighted the song in 1998.

“A simple listening to the songs will expose them as having been copied and being 'substantially similar' − the legal standard in copyright infringement cases,” said Dean A. Dickie of Miller Canfield, an attorney from Chicago, in a press release. Dickie and two other attorneys are representing both plaintiffs, although the suits are technically separate.

Pringle and Phenom are seeking damages, including disgorgement of “all net profits” made by the Peas from the two songs, as well as future credits and royalties.

Source: Yahoo