Justin Timberlake is reportedly being sued by Cirque du Soleil, according to Variety. The entertainment company is accusing Justin of sampling one of the company’s original songs without permission on his 2013 track, “Don’t Hold the Wall” from his album, The 20/20 Experience. The lawsuit claims that that Justin and Timbaland sampled “Steel Dream,” a song that originally appeared in Cirque’s ninth stage production, “Quidam,” and later on another album of the same name. The suit was reportedly filed Thursday in a New York federal court and is seeking $800,000 in copyright infringement damages. Justin, the song's co-writers, J-Roc and James Fauntleroy, Sony Entertainment, Universal Music, and WB Music Corp. are all named as defendants in the suit.
This isn't the first time this year Justin has run into legal trouble. In January, Justin's label Universal Music Group was hit with a lawsuit over his song, "Suit & Tie." Two members of Sly, Slick and Wicked say that they did not give UMG the rights to their vocal performances from "Sho' Nuff," the 1973 song that is sampled in "Suit & Tie." They also were seeking money for the song being used in a Bud Light ad. Now, the singer has another suit on his hands from Cirque du Soleil. You can listen to both songs to compare them below. We've reached out to Justin's label and will continue to update as more details come out.
