Beyonce Accused of a Musical Cover-Up

31. Des'ree's version is MUCH better!

Posted at 5:12PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Des Ree Fan

32. Dear Beyonce,

Why should I call you a writer? When have you every wrote any of your own material. Why do you feel the need to steal other people's music. I know you will not know what this word means, but it called PLAGIARISM. Is it because you can't read or write?..I know you have a hard time speaking, but that does not give you the right to STEAL from people who can read and write. I hear you have a spanish album coming out, but you can not speak spanish..NOW.. THAT WHAT I CALL SCARY!!!.

P.S Please respond to my letter ASAP.

Posted at 5:24PM on Apr 18th 2007 by collegekid

33. i remember this song from R&J it's when they first meet. I think that Des'ree should feel honored that somebody like Beyonce wanted to remake her song. But B went about it the wrong way

Posted at 6:13AM on Apr 25th 2007 by Tiffany

34. Jewish Princess, Jay Z is not a drug dealer. He is the CEO of Def Jam. Prior to that he was a rapper on the same label. Ignorance is a disease and knowledge is the cure. Make sure you know what your talking about before assuming that he's a drug dealer because he is a rapper or better yet a black man.

Posted at 5:43PM on Apr 18th 2007 by cocobutter

35. it serves beyonce right. the song kissing you was written as a sonnet (a 14-line love poem for those who don't know) and she crucified it with all her runs, additional lyrics and all the foolishness she added to it. her version loses the essence of the original and that line about her man meaning more to her than music is depicted rather clearly on this record. the deterioration of her music is beyond me really. sue her ass. it's about freakin time!

Posted at 5:10AM on Apr 19th 2007 by Mizz Tig

36. compulsory license has no bearing on this case you idiot. graduate law school.

Posted at 6:25PM on Apr 18th 2007 by lawyerguyis dumb

37. Please, she should be paying a lot more than that! and no one can sing that song better than des'ree. I hate when artists do covers and I hate beyonce too.

Posted at 12:00PM on Apr 19th 2007 by gatica

38. CD Credits
Still In Love (Kissing You)

WRITTEN BY BEYONCE' KNOWLES, DESREE WEEKES & TIMOTHY ATACK- PUBLISHED BY B-DAY PUBLISHING/EMI APRIL MUSIC INC. (ASCAP), ROYNET MUSIC (ASCAP), SONY/ATV SONGS LLC (BMI)- Produced by Beyonce' Knowles for Music World Productions Inc. & Nellee Hopper- Vocal Arrangement by Beyonce' Knowles- Strings Arrangements by Craig Armstrong- Engineered by Andy Todd, Jim Abbiss, and Shane Woodley at Roc the Mic Studios, NYC- Mixed by Jean Marie Horvat at Oz Recording Studios, Valenica CA- Mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound, NYC- CONTAINS SAMPLES FROM THE COMPOSTION "KISSING YOU' WRITTEN BY TIMOTHY ATACK & DESREE WEEKES & PUBLISHED BY ROYNET MUSIC (ASCAP) AND SONY/ATV SONGS LLC (BMI) USED BY PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE SAMPLE OF "I'M KISSING YOU" PERFORMED BY DES'REE IS COURTESY OF SONG BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT (UK) LTD.

In my opinion that does not sound like theft. Whoever owns the rights gives permission and that is not always the writer. HATERS NEVER GIVE UP!!!

Posted at 6:44PM on Apr 18th 2007 by rollingwithbeyonce

39. The only song I really liked of Beyonce was Irreplaceable, which she stole from Ne-Yo. I have loved Des'ree's version of this song ever since the movrie came out. There is no comparision, Beyonce totally destroyed the song. I hope Des'ree gets everything she can out of Beyonce. Beyonce needs to go away for a while, alot of people are getting annoyed with her now.

Posted at 7:15PM on Apr 18th 2007 by chelleypooh

40. i think she needs to hit her up for 3 million i guess deseree is jut a nice person well beyonce i guess you learned your lesson. too bad neyo hasnt sued her yet. I thought she wrote that song. yeah well everyone better watch out for beyonces fan club starts terrrioring people! hahahaha i hope derseee wins she straight up jacked this womens song if it is true

Posted at 7:26PM on Apr 18th 2007 by crazy

41. I can see why everyone thinks Beyonce stole the song, and she's wrong for that, but Jewish Princess is dead wrong for callin Jay-z a drug dealer! That is what he USED to do. He is no longer a drug dealer. He is a hip-hop mogul! A very successful black man. Please do not degrade him in that way. Yes, YEARS ago he hustled in the streets to make ends meat, but y must he be judged for that now? Everyone has something in the past that I'm sure they would like to leave in the past. Focus on what he is doing now. Positive things.

Posted at 11:53PM on Apr 28th 2007 by Honee B

42. Just unbeweavable!! Ms. Beweavce at it again!!

Posted at 12:07AM on Apr 19th 2007 by Whenwillitstop?????????

43. I think every song Beyonce does is a cover song or a re-sampled sample of a rap song that sampled an old Steely Dan song or remake of a 60s song,etc.

Posted at 10:22PM on Apr 18th 2007 by John C jackson

44. BEYONCE - THINKS SHE IS ALL THAT... SHE SINGS WELL..... DANCES WELL.... BUT ONLY TAKNG PEOPLE FORMONEY... IT PUZZLES ME AND MANY OTHER FRIENDS OF MINE -WHY J-ZAY HASNOT YET ENGAGED HER???????????????THIS IS QUITE A MYSTERY......

Posted at 10:31PM on Apr 18th 2007 by shirl smith

45. I did music licensing for a long time. This lawsuit is b.s. Anyone can do a cover of anyone's song without asking for the copyright holder's permission, THAT IS in the copyright law (you can also do a parody without asking for permission but that is another story). Beyonce's record company (not her management) has to pay the mechanical royalty rate, which is set by the government in the US copyright law, and is non-negotiable. The negotiations with the writers/publishers (note, not the original artist) of the track come only when doing synchronization rights (when songs appear on TV, movies, etc.) and that negotiation is not done by beyonce's management, but by whatever movie, tv show wants to use it. It should have been beyonce's record label that tried to negotiate a deal to use the song on a music video. Since music video's are basically a marketing technique, it is in the copyright holder's best interest to give a good deal or give the song for gratis, BECAUSE the more albums Beyonce sells the MORE money the copyright holder makes on an old song that already had it's day. They should be thankful that Beyonce is going to make them MILLIONS, because that mechanical rate set by the government means the copyright holder is going to make a royalty for each time Beyonce's album is sold and each time her song is played on the radio, etc. $150,000.00 is a drop in the bucket compared to how muc money Beyonce is going to make for them.

Posted at 4:26PM on Apr 19th 2007 by justme