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ABC/Image Group LAA motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Beyonce by the estate of late New Orleans rapper Anthony Barré was filed this past Friday.
At issue is the allegedly unauthorized use of Barré’s voice in Bey’s “Formation” video — a use that her team argues was “minimal.”
The Hollywood Reporter explains that it’s Barré’s voice you hear at the start of Bey’s “Formation” visual saying “What happened at the New Orleans…,” and then again further into the clip, saying “B****, I’m back by popular demand.”
Via the The Hollywood Reporter, the motion states, “Among its many references to New Orleans, the music video used a total of approximately ten seconds of audio from two YouTube videos featuring Anthony Barre — also known as ‘Messy Mya’ — walking through the streets of New Orleans speaking to the camera and interacting with others along the way.”
It then adds, “About six seconds of that same audio was played at Beyonce’s performances of the song during the ‘Formation World Tour.'”
The lawsuit, which was filed in February by Barré’s sister, Angel Barré, claims that the superstar used her brother’s voice, words and performance “without authorization in the extremely popular ‘Formation’ master recording, composition and video, and in theatrical and other live performances.”
But the motion filed by Beyonce’s lawyer claims that the producer of the “Formation” video licensed the YouTube videos before Angel “had herself appointed the administrator” of her brother’s estate.
Barré was fatally shot in 2010.
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