Please don’t panic – keep calm… BeyonceParkwood Entertainment’s record label has won a legal victory in federal court.
In July 2025, Hirose Enterprises LLC, owned by Shuji Hirose, filed a lawsuit against the singer’s music label Single Ladies, claiming that she had used a sample from their 1998 song Moonraker without permission.
Their case was dismissed at the end of June 2026 after a judge said the company had no legal basis to sue because it filed the lawsuit before the company was even formed.
Beyoncé’s album RENAISSANCE has become a cultural phenomenon since its release in the summer of 2022. During this time, the singer’s label faced other legal problems, as popular artists claimed that she also used samples of their work in her songs without proper permission.
A US district judge dismissed a copyright and breach of contract complaint filed by Hirose Enterprises in late June 2026. Billboard. In the initial filing, Hirose claimed to own the rights to John Holiday’s 1998 song “Moonraker,” which Queen Bey covered in her 2022 single “Alien Superstar.”
A representative for Parkwood Entertainment said the label cleared the sample from Holiday himself, credited him as a songwriter on the track, and paid him $10,000 and a 0.5% royalty share for Complicated. Despite this, Hirose argued that they were the true owners of the track and should have been involved in the administrative process.
The lawsuit, filed on July 29, 2025, was dismissed by a judge because Hirose Enterprises LLC was incorporated a week later in early August 2025.
A US judge used Bey’s lyrics in his ruling on the matter
The judge presiding over the copyright lawsuit used lyrics from the song in question in his ruling.
“Please don’t panic, keep calm: Like the DJ booth mentioned in the cases at hand, this district judge must conduct a system-wide troubleshooting test — i.e., a jurisdictional inquiry — before reaching any arguments on the merits of the parties,” he wrote. “The plaintiff did not legally exist at the time the suit was filed, so he could not have had an interest in the outcome of the trial at the time the complaint was filed.”
“Alien Superstar” is the third track on Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning seventh studio album RENAISSANCE. Released in July 2022, the album is about self-expression and inspiring others to live their authentic lives. It’s also an ode to the LGBTQ+ community, a group of people Beyoncé thanked at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Beyoncé criticized the English duo. Correctly said that Fred claims she sampled their work without permission
Hirose Enterprises LLC wasn’t the only party to claim that Beyoncé and her crew used samples from music they didn’t clear. In 2022, English duo Right Said Fred tried to take a swipe at Beyoncé on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling her “brazen” for allegedly using a sample of their hit song “I’m Too Sexy” without permission.
“Usually an artist approaches us, but Beyoncé doesn’t because she’s such a sassy person. She was just like, ‘come and get me,’ so we found out after you did. But everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us. To use our tune, they need our permission, so they send us a demo and we approve it, and if they do, we get credit.” they wrote.
Queen Bey paid it right, said Fred more than any other writer on the album
Prior to this, the band appeared to express their excitement about being involved in the project, writing: “Excited to get credit for the new ‘Beyonce’ album. ‘Renaissance’ by Drake, AG Cook, Syd, Right Said Fred and more #Beyonce,” the post reads. VIBE.
However, Beyoncé did not back down from the group’s claims, as she and her team condemned their “misguided and incredibly offensive” comments in October 2022. “Not only was permission granted to use it, but they publicly expressed their gratitude for being part of the album,” the statement said.
Beyoncé and her team went on to say that despite only using the composition of their song “I’m Too Sexy”, they were paid a significant amount for permission to use it. Additionally, Beyoncé said that the Right Said Fred duo “owns more than any other single writer and has more credit.”
Beyoncé’s team has opened up about the response to the designer, who claimed they weren’t paid
A few days later, on October 12, 2022, designer Nusi Quero stated that he had not been paid for his styling work for the dance album. Two days later, a representative of Bey’s team reported And! News that the claims were completely false.
“It is of great concern that designer Nusi Quero has published damaging statements about Marnie Xenofonte regarding non-payment for work performed,” they said. “In fact, he was paid for the work and there is proof of all payments.”
The representative said that two payments were made on May 9 and July 8. The third and final payment was returned due to a designer error. After numerous attempts to contact him, a check was sent in the mail on September 29th.