It has been reported that Kelly Rowland is blaming Mathew Knowles for her, Beyonce, and Michelle Williams having to endure a copyright infringment lawsuit for their song “Cater 2 U.” Apparently, Mathew has a long history of trying to get songwriters to add Beyoncé’s name to songs she didn’t compose, just so she gets publishing royalties.
A few months ago, this news made headlines when Chicago-based Rickey Alley claimed Destiny’s Child ripped off his song.
From the Chicago Suntimes:
“Allen first copyrighted his “Cater 2 U,” — with the same spelling — in the mid-1990s. He performed the song locally and updated the copyright three times, as recently as 2000. Allen’s song is about “relieving the stress of a significant other, and getting them to relax.” He says Destiny Child’s version contains similar steamy lyrics. When Allen’s song says: “I want to rub you down,” Destiny’s Child asks: “Want a foot rub?” Allen’s lyrics say: “The tub has hot steam rising” and “I’m waiting to soak your body through,” Destiny’s Child song offers to: “Let me run your bath water.”
Allen says he passed a copy of his “Cater 2 U” to Chicago remixer Maurice Joshua, and the two planned to collaborate on a demo. That never happened, Allen says. But Joshua later spent several hours in a session with Destiny’s Child recording a different song, according to court papers. Joshua says he never had a copy of Allen’s work. Lawyers for the threesome say the case has no merit and asked that it be tossed. It was Beyonce who was the source for the idea of “Cater 2 U,” her lawyers said in a court filing. “She is perhaps the most important witness for the defendants,” they said.
However, yesterday, it was announced that the trial, which was set to begin next week and would have required the threesome to appear every day in court for 8 days, had been evaded and the case had been settled. The terms are confidential. “I can confirm that yes, it did settle,” said Matthew Wildermuth, the attorney for Rickey Allen. “All of the issues have been amicably resolved and the case is going to be dismissed.”
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