Beyoncé and singer Chloe Bailey are facing a major legal battle after being sued for copyright infringement. The lawsuit, filed by artist Melvin Moore, accuses Parkwood Entertainment of using his work without permission in multiple songs from Bailey’s album.
Moore, also known as 4Rest (Forest), filed the lawsuit in New York on Thursday, alleging fraudulent misrepresentation, violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), civil conspiracy, and deceptive business practices. The 39-year-old Grammy-nominated artist claims in court documents that he “contributed substantial original lyrics, melodies, and creative direction to several master recordings” on Bailey’s album Trouble in Paradise, which was released in August.
Among the songs named in the lawsuit are Favorite, Might As Well, and Same Lingerie. Moore alleges these tracks were “commercially released by Defendants and embodied on without his knowledge or consent.” He further claims that prior to Bailey promoting Same Lingerie on Instagram—where she has over 260,000 followers—she ignored a DMCA Violation and a Cease and Desist notice he had issued.
According to Moore, Same Lingerie was inspired by a past relationship. He asserts that he originally recorded demos for the song based on a woman’s hesitations and emotional struggles following a previous romance.
In response to the alleged copyright violations, Moore is seeking $5 million in punitive damages per song. Additionally, he is demanding a jury trial and requesting statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringement, along with statutory damages of up to $25,000 per DMCA violation. He is also pursuing compensatory and punitive damages for willful copyright infringement, fraudulent misrepresentation, and civil conspiracy.
Beyond Bailey and Parkwood Entertainment, Moore’s lawsuit names several other defendants, including Columbia Records, Sony Music Entertainment, ABC Corporation 1-10, and John and Jane Does 1-10. He claims these parties “misappropriated his contributions, falsely registered the works under their names, and exploited them for commercial gain across multiple revenue-generating platforms without authorization.”
A source told DailyMail that Beyoncé is extremely upset about how the situation has escalated. “Beyoncé is incensed that it has gone this far,” the source revealed. “This lawsuit is a terrible look for everyone involved.”
The insider also claimed that communication between Bailey and Parkwood Entertainment had been breaking down in the weeks leading up to the lawsuit. They added that Parkwood was “petrified of being drawn into a lawsuit about intellectual property theft, especially after seeing how damaging the Marvin Gaye lawsuit was to Robin Thicke’s career.”