Justin Timberlake Sued by Cirque du Soleil Over His Song ‘Don’t Hold the Wall’

Photo by REX SHUTTERSTOCK

Cirque du Soleil has sued the Grammy-winning singer, accusing him of sampling a part of one of the performance company’s original songs in his track “Don’t Hold the Wall,” a cut from his 2013 album “The 20/20 Experience,” without permission.

The lawsuit claims that Timberlake borrowed from “Steel Dream,” a song that originally appeared in “Quidam,” Cirque’s ninth stage production, and later on a 1997 album of the same name. The suit, filed Thursday in a New York federal court, is seeking $800,000 in copyright infringement damages.

(Check out the song here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWd4BJRExNw – and listen around the 4-minute mark)

Timbaland, J-Roc and James Fauntleroy, “Don’t Hold the Wall’s” co-writers, along with Sony Entertainment, Universal Music and WB Music Corp were also named as defendants in Cirque’s suit.

No stranger to copyright infringement-related accusations, Timberlake was sued by the 1970s rhythm and blues band Sly, Slick and Wicked earlier this year over his song “Suit & Tie,” claiming that it borrowed elements from their song “Sho’ Nuff.” This incident was followed by a similar claim in February, which alleged that his Will.I.Am collaboration “Damn Girl” samples from Perry Kibble’s “A New Day Is Here at Last.”

{ SOURCE: Variety | http://goo.gl/mlEVUj }