Beyoncé Copyright Lawsuit Over ‘Break My Soul’ Sample Dropped by Accusers
A lawsuit against Beyoncé and Sony Music over samples featured in her chart-topping hit “Break My Soul” has been dropped, less than three months after the case was filed.
The voluntary dismissal will end an unusual case in which members of Da Showstoppaz, a little-known New Orleans group, claimed that Beyoncé had used their music without permission in “Break My Soul” — even though she legally cleared the actual song she had sampled.
Court filings contained no mention of any kind of settlement agreement, and the case could have been dropped unilaterally. Neither side immediately returned requests for comment on the withdrawal of the case.
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In their May lawsuit, members of Da Showstoppaz accused Beyoncé (Beyoncé Knowles Carter) of infringing their 2002 song “Release A Wiggle” on “Break My Soul,” a smash hit that spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022.
Rather than alleging that Beyonce stole their material directly, the group said that the superstar had actually legally sampled the 2014 song “Explode” by the New Orleans rapper Big Freedia. But that track, they claimed, had illegally borrowed several key lyrics from their song.
At the center of those allegations was the phrase “release yo wiggle” and several related variants, which Da Showstoppaz call “unique phrases” that they coined in their song. They say Big Freedia — a well-known rapper in New Orleans’ bounce music scene — infringed their copyrights by using similar phrases in “Explode.”
As Billboard reported at the time, such allegations would face long odds in court. Copyright law typically does not protect short, simple phrases, and a court could have potentially dismissed the case on the grounds that Big Freedia was free to use such lyrics even if The Showstoppaz used them first.
“Explode” was one of several high-profile samples on “Break My Soul,” which also heavily pulled from Robin S‘s house song “Show Me Love.” After the release of the song, Big Freedia thanked “Queen Beyoncé” and said she had been “honored to be a part of this special moment.”
