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See You N*Court

Justin Timberlake is being sued by Cirque du Soleil

They say he copied one of their songs.

CANADIAN-BASED CIRQUE du Soleil is suing American pop superstar Justin Timberlake, alleging that his hit song Don’t Hold the Wall illegally borrows from one of the troupe’s original musical compositions.

A 10-page complaint filed in New York alleges that Timberlake illegally used parts of the song Steel Dream, taken from Cirque du Soleil’s 1997 album Quidam.

The circus troupe, which is asking for $800,000 (€702,000) in damages, said it had filed the suit over the “unauthorised use of the musical composition and sound recording” in Timberlake’s song, which appeared on his 2013 album The 20/20 Experience.

The suit also holds the song’s three co-authors responsible, in addition to Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music and WB Music Corp.

LsNora JT / YouTube

Cirque du Soleil did not immediately respond to a request for comment by AFP.

According to trade magazine Variety, the suit is not the first of its type to target Timberlake.

gelokud / YouTube

In February, an allegation arose that his song Damn Girl, which he collaborated on with Will.I.Am, borrowed from the 1969 song A New Day is Here At Last.

Timberlake made his start as a child television star before joining boy band ‘NSync.

He more recently has become one of the music industry’s most popular solo singers and has starred in movies including the Facebook-themed drama The Social Network.

© – AFP, 2016

Read: Massive concert to mark 1916: 1,100 singers from 32 choirs join forces with RTÉ orchestra

Read: This Dublin duo wrote a song about the Easter Rising based on 1916 morse code

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