Beyoncé Knowles is being sued by her former background singer, Ahmad Lane, for $7 Million dollars in damages after the singer allegedly stole her hit single "Xo" from him. But according to Bey's camp and lawyers, Lane's claims are "vague and cryptic", plus the songs share no lyrical or musical similarity, other than the letters "X" and "O".
Via DailyMail:
"Ahmad has alleged that he was the original writer of the song, which he titled XOXO.
Prior to Beyonce's release of her tune, XO, in late 2013, Ahmad said he gave a copy of XOXO to another background singer, Chrissy Collins. She is then alleged to have passed on the song to Beyonce, who released it as the first single to her eponymous fifth studio album. In the court documents, Beyonce's lawyers did not agree to any of this and insisted that a singer with '17 Grammy Awards and 118 million records sold' did not need to rip off someone else's property. Documents dated June 4 pointed out that 'the two works at issue are entirely different songs that share no lyrical or musical similarity, other than perhaps the letters X and O.'
The court papers filed by Beyonce's attorneys further insisted that Ahmad's song and Beyonce's do not share 'melodic content and there is no meaningful similarity in pitch series, rhythm or rhythmic patterns, melodic development or structure.' A final point made compared the lyrics of XOXO and XO, saying that the former focused on 'wanting to love every inch of the lover's body,' while the latter emphasized spending time with a loved one 'before our time has run out.' Filed in the United States District Court's Southern District of New York, the 59 pages of legal documents asked a judge to dismiss the suit altogether. Released on December 16, 2013, XO was the first single (of five) from Beyonce - an album that eventually sold 5 million copies. It was officially co-written and co-produced by Ryan Tedder, Terius 'The Dream' Nash, and Beyonce." (SOURCE)