The estate of Messy Mya, a YouTube star who passed away in 2010, is suing Beyoncé for sampling Mya’s voice on her hit song “Formation” without permission. The deceased artist’s phrase “I like that” contributed to the reason why Beyoncé has made millions of dollars off the song. Further, the estate claims that they reached out to Beyoncé, but she blew them off. The estate is now suing for more than $20 million in back royalties and other damages.
See Beyoncé Is Reportedly Being Sued for $20 Million, Twitter, February 8, 2017.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
