Beyonce gets sued.....again!

[christiangirl]

DES’REE TO BEYONCE: ‘YOU GOTTA BE’ KIDDING: Knowles sued for covering ‘I’m Kissing You’ without permission.
(April 19, 2007)

*On the recent re-release of her album “B’Day,” Beyonce puts her spin on Des’ree’s 1998 song “I’m Kissing You.”

But according to Des’ree, who also wrote the song, the former Destiny’s Child member recorded her version, altered the title and shot a video – all without permission.

According to TMZ.com, Des’ree (of “You Gotta Be” fame) filed a lawsuit against Bey in Manhattan Federal Court Tuesday alleging that she and her record company ignored copyright laws to record her version, retitled "Still In Love (Kissing You)," after initial attempts to get proper clearance stalled.


Beyonce and her label were reportedly dissatisfied with Des’ree’s proposed terms, which forbade any change of the song title or the filming of a music video for the song. A deal to cover the tune was never reached, however, Beyonce recorded the song and shot a video for it anyway.


Des'ree is suing to stop distribution of the song, video and album, and is seeking at least $150,000 in damages.
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Here's the link to the article so you can hear both versions. I mean, WTH, this is my favorite song on the re-release album hands down. This is so stupid, if someone tells you, "DON'T DO MY SONG IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO THIS" and you DO HER SONG, THEN DO THAT, then you just asked to be sued. She may as well have said, "Here's my money, help yourself." This is the second or third time she's been sued this year, and it's only April. I love B and I'm still going to the concert, but some people just don't get it.

http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur32915.cfm

[LegalChef]

I smell something fishy. Supposedly, the song wasn't even supposed to be on the re-release, but it got tacked on at the last minute. And the video was done to make it look like a "home-movie" or something private. Hmmm... sounds like somebody started spinning it ahead of time.

At least, Des'ree isn't asking for millions of dollars, though.

[ASUADPi]

I only had to watch like 45 seconds of the video to "hear" the copyright infringement.

She deserves to be sued.

[tld221]

yeah co-sign - get that money des'ree!

(but why only 150K? guess shes being modest?)

[KatieKate1244]

"Kissing You" is such a beautiful song. I really think Des'ree should have asked for more.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by LegalChef

I smell something fishy. Supposedly, the song wasn't even supposed to be on the re-release, but it got tacked on at the last minute. And the video was done to make it look like a "home-movie" or something private. Hmmm... sounds like somebody started spinning it ahead of time.

At least, Des'ree isn't asking for millions of dollars, though.

She said that she's always loved the song and when she remade it, everyone told her she was crazy if she didn't include it so (at the last minute) she did. But they were still working out the details of the copyright all the way up to the day of the release. If you haven't gotten permission, how about you push back your release until you get it???

I don't know what Des'ree is asking for so little. But stopping the distribution of the album (which B agreed to) is what's really gonna hurt her, so I guess it was a smart move in that sense, but she definitely should've gotten more. I'm just glad I got mine before it got pulled. It's so beautiful--I need my own copy!