Singer Demi Lovato is being sued by alt-pop duo Sleigh Bells for copyright infringement.
In a lawsuit filed on August 22, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells claim that Lovato’s 2015 album track ‘Stars’ features elements taken from their 2010 hit ‘Infinity Guitars’.
According to Hollywood Reporter, the complaint reads: “A comparison of the two songs reveals that, at the very least, the combination of the hand claps and bass drum, structured as 3 quarter beats and a rest, with the bass drum providing a counter-rhythm to the hand claps, is at least substantially similar in both works … This infringing material repeats throughout the Defendants’ song.”
Sleigh Bells are seeking “a permanent injunction prohibiting the reproduction, distribution, sale, public performance or other use or exploitation of ‘Infinity Guitars'” by those named in the lawsuit. The defendants in this case are Lovato, UMG Recordings and producers Carl Falk and Rami Yacoub.
Sleigh Bells first raised this issue on Twitter last year, tweeting the following:
https://twitter.com/sleighbells/status/661239652087685120
In a joint statement, Yacoub and Falk said at the time: “We did not use any samples in Demi Lovato’s song ‘Stars’. Demi was also not involved with the production. She only wrote the top line.”
Lovato has yet to address the issue publicly.
Do ‘Stars’ and ‘Infinity Guitars’ sound similar? Take a listen to both tracks below:
Do you think that elements of the songs sound similar? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @CelebMix.