Jessie J faces copyright infringement lawsuit (+video)

NZ Herald

28 Jun, 2012 12:00 AM2 mins to read

Jessie J is being sued over her hit song Domino. Photo / AP

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British chart-topper Jessie J is being sued by an American singer, who claims that her hit single Domino copies one of his band's songs.

According to Billboard, Will Loomis has accused the 24-year-old of using significant portions of his 2008 track Bright Red Chords by his band Loomis and the Lust for Domino, which was released last year.

The website reports that California-based Loomis has named Jessie J (real name Jessica Cornish), Universal Music Group, Lava Records and Universal Republic Records as defendants in the lawsuit.

"Mr Loomis never consented to the use of his song and we look forward to obtaining an appropriate remedy from the court for this clear infringement," said his lawyer, Chris Arledge, in a statement.

"Will Loomis is a rising star in the music business," the singer's lawyers claimed in legal documents filed to the United States District Court on Monday, reports The Guardian.

"[Bright Red Chords] is among Loomis's most popular [songs]. It was written in 2008 and rapidly gained popularity."

They also claimed that Jessie J and her co-songwriters "willfully infringed" on Bright Red Chords' copyright, and sold "millions of copies of their derivative work" resulting in "significant ill-gotten commercial advantage".

Loomis uploaded a mash-up comparing the two songs to YouTube in April, but the video has since been blocked on copyright grounds.

In a post on his band's Facebook page, Loomis wrote: 'When I wrote this melody in my garage I never imagined it would be sung for the King and Queen of England and I especially never imagined it would be sung by Jessie J.'

Jessie J performed Domino at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert earlier this month.