The Black Eyed Peas are facing two separate lawsuits stemming from their quadrouple platinum–selling 2009 album, The E.N.D. Documents filed in a Santa Ana, California court accuse the Peas of intentionally copying Texas songwriter Bryan Pringle’s song “Take a Dive,” as part of their hit, “I Got a Feeling.” The latter has been on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 singles chart for a whopping 72 weeks after peaking at number one.
A similar but separate suit is being re-filed in Chicago by Ebony Latrice Batts, aka “Phoenix Phenom,” and her producer/co-writer Manfred “Manny” Mohr. The duo claim BEP copied their song “Boom Dynamite” and re-worked it as “Boom Boom Pow.” Batts and Mohr allege that the Peas along with Interscope Records and Universal Music Group have engaged in “a pattern and practice of intentional copyright infringement with respect to the unlawful copying of songs of unknown or lesser-known artists.”
If successful, the consequences from both lawsuits could be far-reaching. “I Got a Feeling” broke a digital sales record with over 5.5 million digital units sold, while “Boom Boom Pow” was closely behind it with 5.2 million digital units sold. Both respective suits seek damages including all of the net profits received by the defendants as a result of the two songs.
In other Black Eyed Peas-related news, Billboard magazine has named Fergie their Woman of the Year for 2010. The six-time Grammy-winner will receive the award at Billboard’s Women in Music Event on Dec. 2 in New York.
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“I am humbled and excited to accept the Billboard Woman of the Year Award,” Fergie said. “Being honored by Billboard is a great career achievement.”
