Sleigh Bells sue Demi Lovato for copyright infringement

Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller of alt-pop outfit Sleigh Bells are suing Demi Lovato over copyright infringement.

They say that Stars, a bonus track on her 2015 album Confident copies a significant amount of their track, Infinity Guitars, which is on their 2010 debut Treats.

Their allegations began on Twitter last October “Flattered you guys sampled Infinity Guitars & Riot Rhythm for Stars but we were not contacted. Gotta clear those.”

The issue has now gone to court in California’s Federal Court. Krauss and Miller are demanding “substantial profits” in damages and that sales and broadcast of the track be stopped “permanently”.

Legal documents state: “A comparison of the two songs reveals that, at the very least, the combination of the hand claps and bass drum, structured as 3 quarter beats and a rest, with the bass drum providing a counter-rhythm to the hand claps, is at least substantially similar in both works.”

The song’s producers Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, who are included in the suit (as is UMG Recordings), have previously responded, “We did not use any samples in Stars.”

They added, “Demi was also not involved with the production. She only wrote the top line.”

Confident debuted on the US charts at #2. Treats peaked at #39 and made it to annual Top 10 lists in many publications. Infinity Guitars, which made Rolling Stone’s list of the best songs of the year, was also used on a Samsung jingle in America.

Judge for yourself below: