Beyonce Knowles To Testify In Copyright Dispute?

(April 1, 2009 - Photo by Bauer Griffin) 

Beyonce Knowles is reportedly set to testify in court as part of a legal battle with a man who alleges Destinys Child claimed his song as their own.

Singer/songwriter Rickey Allen fired a lawsuit at Beyonce’s R&B girl group in 2006 over claims their 2004 track Cater 2 U was inspired by a song he composed with the same title, which he first copyrighted in the mid-1990s.

Allen’s song is about “relieving the stress of a significant other” and he insists even the lyrics in Destiny’s Child’s song are suspiciously similar to his. He claimed he handed over a version of his song to producer Maurice Joshua, who is said to have later worked with the Bootylicious hitmakers in the studio. Joshua maintains he never held a copy of the song.

Lawyers for the trio, which disbanded in 2005, asked to throw out the case but U.S. District Judge James Holderman has now given the go-ahead for the copyright case to hit a Chicago, Illinois courtroom on 10 December (09).

And superstar Beyonce is expected to take the stand - because her legal team claim she came up with the idea for the track, according to the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. A statement in their legal filing reads, “She is perhaps the most important witness for the defendants.”

Allen’s lawyer Matt Wildermuth says, “Do we say (Beyonce’s) responsible for copying? Yes. But there’s no such thing as innocent copying, even if it’s unintentional. The jury will decide the notion that these are simple coincidences.”

The trial was previously delayed due to Knowles’ busy schedule.
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