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French Montana -

French Montana was threatened by a lawsuit from rapper Turk over allegedly stolen lyrics. Turk, a member of '90s hip hop group The Hot Boys, which also included Lil Wayne, B.G., and Juvenile, had his lawyers send a letter to Montana claiming he ripped off lyrics for his 2021 song 'Handstand' with Doja Cat and featuring Saweetie.

According to the letter, obtained by TMZ, Turk says the lyrics were stolen from his group's 1999 hit, 'I Need A Hot Girl,' which even appeared on Billboard's Hot 100. In Montana's song, the lyrics go: "I need a project b—, a hood rat b—. One don't give a f— and say she took that d—," which are almost exactly the lyrics Turk claims he wrote and performed in his song.

But this all might just be a misunderstanding, as a source with direct knowledge reportedly told TMZ that Montana had actually purchased the beat and the hook, thinking that it was all clear. Turk's attorney says they're willing to settle out of court.

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Justin Bieber, Dan + Shay - '10,000 Hours' -

Justin Bieber's romantic 2021 hit '10,000 Hours' featuring pop duo Dan + Shay came under scrutiny following a lawsuit by the label Melomega Music. The company claims that a “core portion” of the Grammy-winning song was taken from a little-known 1980 track called 'The First Time Baby Is A Holiday.' Melomega's representatives say that the theft was "impudently bold,” claiming that “'10,000 Hours’ is not just substantially similar to ‘First Time’; defendants copied, in minute detail, the most important, core portion of plaintiff’s song, which includes the chorus, verse and hook."

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Ed Sheeran - 'Shape of You' -

Ed Sheeran was embroiled in a legal battle against Grime artist Sami Switch (Sami Chokri) since 2018. Chokri accused Sheeran of plagiarising his song 'Oh Why' in the 2017 hit 'Shape of You.' Rather than settling, as many artists do to save time and money, Sheeran went to court and fought his case over several years. On April 6, Sheeran posted a video to Instagram confirming that he had finally won. The judge ruled that he had "neither deliberately nor subconsciously copied" Chokri's song. Sheeran was pleased with the result but wanted to share his thoughts on the issue of copyright infringement: "I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court," he began. "Even if there's no base for the claim, it's really damaging to the songwriting industry," as "there's only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music." 

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Dua Lipa - 'Levitating' -

Dua Lipa's fame soared with the release of her album 'Future Nostalgia,' but now she's being accused of plagiarizing one of its hit songs. Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System filed a copyright infringement suit against the British pop star claiming she ripped off the catchy tune from their own 2017 song, 'Live Your Life', TMZ reports. According to the docs, the band alleges that Dua and her team heard their track before 2020, which is when they started writing 'Levitating,' and then copied it. In addition to Dua, Artikal Sound System has named Warner Records and others as defendants, and they're asking for any profits they may have made off of 'Levitating,' plus damages. While there aren't any specific musical references laid out in their claim, it's clear upon listening to the two songs that at least the chorus sounds near identical... 

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Dua Lipa - 'Levitating' -

The singer was then hit with a second copyright infringement suit over the same song, but this time by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, who claim that she ripped off their "signature melody" from their 1979 disco song 'Wiggle and Giggle All Night' and and the 1980 Miguel Bosé song 'Don Diablo,' to which they also own the copyright, People reports.

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Sam Smith - 'Dancing With a Stranger' -

Songwriters Jordan Vincent, Christopher Miranda and Rosco Banlaoi have accused Sam Smith and Normani, along with a list of names, of stealing the core from their 2015 track 'Dancing With Strangers' for the hit 2019 song 'Dancing With a Stranger.' The suit claims the hook, chorus, lyrics, and musical composition "are all the same," Pride reports. The lawsuit seeks compensation for the damages Vincent has suffered from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, and EMI Music Publishing. 

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Madonna vs. Tory Lanez -

Madonna publicly called out rapper Tory Lanez for illegally sampling her music on his album 'Alone at Prom.' She claimed that he used her song 'Into The Groove' on the track 'Pluto’s Last Comet' without permission. This came to light when Madonna commented on an Instagram post where he was promoting the album. She wrote "Read your messages [for] illegal usage of my song get into the groove!", suggesting that he had already been contacted about it and hadn't responded. Lanez was already in legal trouble after allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot in 2020. 

Click through this gallery to see more and find out which other famous artists have been accused of plagiarism.

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Courtney Love vs. Olivia Rodrigo -

In the summer of 2021, Courtney Love called out Olivia Rodrigo for allegedly copying her 'Hole' album cover. On Facebook, Love wrote, "I've informed her I await her flowers [and] note . I sure hope it's long . Does Disney teach kids reading and writing ? God knows. Let's see . Yes this is rude. Rage inducing ? Honey if I had a dollar for [every time] this happens ? I'd be real rich !" When a commenter criticized her for getting upset, she had more to say...

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Courtney Love vs. Olivia Rodrigo -

The grunge rocker replied, "Stealing an original idea and not asking permission is rude. There's no way to be elegant about it . I'm not angry . It happens all the time to me . And he really I'm very gracious or say nothing . But this was bad form . That's not bullying or bomb throwing . This persons music has nothing to do with my life . Possibly never will . It was rude And I gave every right to stick up for my work . Don't gatekeep me ! I'm honorable as f--k to my fellow artists , and I expect the same."

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Childish Gambino - 'This Is America' - Donald Glover, who goes by the stage name Childish Gambino, has been accused of plagiarism for his song 'This Is America,' for the second time. Glover was accused of plagiarism by the rapper Jase Harley a few years ago, but it didn't come to much. Now the rapper Kidd Wes is suing Glover for alleged copyright infringement, claiming that 'This Is America' is "glaringly" similar to a song he himself released two years prior. Kidd Wes is seeking a trial and damages.

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Travis Scott - 'No Bystanders' - Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul has sued the rapper in a lawsuit which claims that the 'Astroworld' song copied a portion of Three 6 Mafia’s 1997 song 'Tear Da Club Up.' DJ Paul is seeking US$20 million in damages.

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Ed Sheeran - 'Thinking Out Loud' - Sheeran was sued twice, with the lawsuits saying that he copied parts of Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On' for his Grammy-winning song. Ed Townsend, the coauthor of the song with Gaye, is behind one of the lawsuits. A US judge has stated that there are "substantial similarities."

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Juice WRLD - 'Lucid Dreams' - Sting threatened to sue the rapper due to his sampling of his 1993 song 'Shape of My Heart,' even though he is getting 85% of the royalties, according to some now deleted tweets. He used Sting's guitar riff on his track 'Lucid Dreams.'

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Nicki Minaj - 'Sorry' - Tracy Chapman sued Nicki Minaj over using a sample from her song 'Baby Can I Hold You' in Minaj's track 'Sorry.' She claimed that Minaj asked for permission to use the sample multiple times after the song was already recorded, but Chapman denied the request. Despite this, Minaj gave it to a DJ at a New York station to be played on his show.

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Daft Punk and The Weeknd - ‘Starboy’ - Singer Yasminah sued the artists for at least US$5 million, claiming they lifted material from her 2009 song 'Hooyo' for their hit tune 'Starboy.'

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Miley Cyrus - ‘We Can't Stop’ - In March of 2018, Jamaican musician Flourgon filed a lawsuit against Miley Cyrus, claiming her song 'We Can't Stop' was "substantially similar" to his 1998 tune 'We Run Things.'

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Ed Sheeran, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw - ‘The Rest of Our Life’ - Country music star Jasmine Rae sued Sheeran, saying the song he wrote for Hill and McGraw was almost a copy of her track 'When I Found You.'

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Meghan Trainor - ‘All About That Bass’ - Trainor's smash hit was allegedly pulled from South Korean pop band Koyote's song 'Happy Mode,' according to one of the songwriters.

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The Beatles - ‘Come Together’ - The band was also hit with a suit from legendary rock star Chuck Berry in 1973, who claimed the single borrowed both lines and melodies from his song 'You Can't Catch Me.'

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Rod Stewart - ‘Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?’ - Rod Stewart's incredibly popular hit apparently used the hook from Jorge Ben's 1976 song 'Taj Mahal.' They reached a settlement and Stewart agreed to donate some of the proceeds to charity.

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Radiohead - ‘Creep’ - Radiohead's classic anthem was the reason why the band ended up in court after being sued by the Hollies, who claimed the song took from their 1973 tune 'The Air I Breathe.' Tom Yorke eventually admitted he was "inspired" by it and now they all share royalties.

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Lana Del Rey - ‘Get Free’ - The 'Creep' saga didn't stop there. In 2017, people were quick to point out how similar Lana Del Rey's track 'Get Free,' from her album 'Lust for Life,' was to Radiohead's song. The band didn't press charges but asked to be credited.

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Robin Thicke - ‘Blurred Lines’ - Robin Thicke's hit tune was engulfed in controversy for many different factors, but the main one may have been when Marvin Gaye's family sued him and Pharrell Williams for copyright infringement, claiming it was too similar to the late musician's song 'Got to Give It Up.'

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Jet - ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ - Many Iggy Pop's fans accused Jet of plagiarizing Iggy's 1977 song 'Lust for Life.' The band denied all accusations.

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David Guetta - ‘Play Hard’ - Guetta's 2012 song ‘Play Hard’ allegedly "heavily sampled" from Dutch group Alice DeeJay's single 'Better Off Alone.'

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Jay-Z - ‘Big Pimpin' - Jay-Z has had his fair share of plagiarism accusations, and one of them was about his hit 'Big Pimpin,' whose underlying hook comes from the song 'Khosara Khosara,' by Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi.

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Bruno Mars - ‘Treasure’ - In 2012, musician Breakbot blasted Bruno Mars, claiming the pop star's smash hit 'Treasure' was awfully similar to his own song 'Baby I'm Yours.'

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Oasis - ‘Whatever’ - Musician Neil Innes claimed 'Whatever' had lifted from his song 'How Sweet to Be an Idiot,' and he was given a cowriting credit after hitting Oasis with a lawsuit.

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Simple Plan - ‘Your Love Is a Lie’ - Simple Plan are huge fans of Green Day... some may say even a little too much. People were quick to point out their 2007 song was a tad too similar to Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams.'

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Katy Perry - ‘Roar’ - The dispute over whether Katy Perry had borrowed from Sara Bareilles's 'Brave' only ended when the latter stepped in and said they were friends and there was no reason to freak out.

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Led Zeppelin - ‘Stairway to Heaven’ - After all these years, Zeppelin were accused of stealing the intro of their classic from fellow rockers Spirit's song 'Taurus.' Jimmy Page has since called the claims "ridiculous."

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Led Zeppelin - ‘Whole Lotta Love’ - When the band recorded 'Whole Lotta Love' in 1969, they sampled Muddy Waters's 'You Need Love,' but they didn't credit songwriter Willie Dixon, who ended up suing them.

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Coldplay - 'Viva La Vida' - The Grammy-winning song won them praise, but also trouble. Coldplay had to settle out of court with guitarist Joe Satriani, after he realized they had used "substantial original portions" of his song 'If I Could Fly.'

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Avril Lavigne - 'Girlfriend' - Lavigne was hit with a suit from 1970s pop group The Rubinoos, who claimed she borrowed from their song 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.'

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The Doors - ‘Hello, I Love You’ - Legendary band The Doors had to pay royalties to fellow legendary band The Kinks for lifting their riff from 'All Day and All of the Night' for their classic 'Hello, I Love You.'

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Nirvana - ‘Come As You Are’ -

Kurt Cobain was reportedly nervous for making the grunge anthem as the single for their album for its similarities to Killing Joke's 'Eighties.' The latter opted not to sue.

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Katy Perry - ‘Dark Horse’ - Rap group Flame, alongside rapper Lecrae and John Reilly, filed a suit against Katy Perry, claiming she lifted from their Christian rap track 'Joyful Noise.'

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The Beach Boys - ‘Surfin' U.S.A.’ - Chuck Berry might be one of the most sampled artists ever, and this time it was The Beach Boys who grabbed his song 'Sweet Little Sixteen' and made it their own. The band's manager gave Berry the tune's copyright to avoid a lawsuit.

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Jay-Z & Kanye West ft. Frank Ocean - ‘Made in America’ - The trio were accused of plagiarizing Joel McDonald's track 'Made in America,' but they ended up winning the case in 2016.

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Eminem - ‘Rap God’ - Eminem and MC Raymond Jones, from the group Hot Stylz, reportedly reached an agreement after Jones claimed Slim Shady had used a 25-second sample of one of his songs in 'Rap God.'

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Jay-Z & Beyoncé - ‘Drunk in Love’ -

Hungarian folk singer Mitsou sued the couple in 2014, claiming they had lifted the vocals from her song 'Bajba, Bajba Pelem.' The case went to court and Mitsou lost.

See also: Celebrities who have sued their own parents.

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