Beyoncé has responded to the incendiary claims of copyright from English pop band Right Said Fred surrounding one of her songs on Renaissance. The singer has labelled the accusations as “false” and “erroneous”.
This response comes after comments the East Grinstead band made last week. Right Said Fred, comprised of brothers Richard and Fred Faribrass, called Beyoncé “arrogant” for using their most famous hit ‘I’m Too Sexy’ in her Renaissance cut ‘Alien Superstar’.
The duo appeared in The Sun, speaking from the 2022 Broadcast Music Inc Awards in London, with the Fairbrass brothers claiming that Beyoncé used their track without seeking their permission. “Normally the artist approaches us,” they said, “But Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person she just had probably thought ‘come and get me’ so we heard about it after the fact when you did. But everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us.”
However, in a definitive reply shared to Pitchfork, Beyoncé and her camp have denied these claims: “The comments made by Right Said Fred stating that Beyonce used ‘I’m Too Sexy’ in ‘Alien Superstar’ without permission are erroneous and incredibly disparaging.”
It continued: “Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album. For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilised.”
“Permission was asked of their publisher on May 11th, 2022, and the publisher approved the use on June 15, 2022. They were paid for the usage in August, 2022”, the statement added. “Furthermore, the copyright percentage of the Right Said Fred writers with respect to the use of ‘I’m Too Sexy’ is a substantial portion of the composition.”
“Collectively the Right Said Fred writers own more than any other singular writer and have co-writer credit,” it concluded: “This accusation is false.”
This isn’t the first time that Beyoncé has come under fire for using someone else’s music on Renaissance, recently, Kelis claimed that she was not told that Queen Bey was to sample ‘Milkshake’ on ‘Energy’.
