A musician from Chicago has filed a lawsuit against Lady Gaga and her record company over her smash hit “Judas.” According to Rebecca Francescatti, her former bass player was helping Gaga out on “Born This Way” and thinks that the man stole her song and gave it to Gaga. Francescatti says there are too many similarities between her song “Juda” and Gaga’s “Judas.” Hear “Juda” and read more about the lawsuit after the jump.
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A Chicago musician is suing one-woman international pop empire Lady Gaga for copyright infringement because she claims that Gaga, with help from a sound engineer that worked with both performers, borrowed a bit too much inspiration from her own song titled “Juda,” which she created for her band Rebecca F. & the Memes, in the making of her similarly titled mega-hit single “Judas.”
In her lawsuit [PDF], the musician, Rebecca Francescatti, names Gaga, along with Interscope Records, Universal Music Group, DJ White Shadow and sound engineer Brian Joseph Gaynor as participants in creating the single “Judas,” a song which bares “a substantial similarity” to “Juda” because Gaga allegedly “copied and incorporated substantial, original portions” of the work, though it was previously copyrighted and recorded with Gaynor. Francescatti is now seeking a cut from the profits “Judas” has earned.
According to NBC Chicago, Gaynor told Francescatti that he was working with Gaga on her latest album, “Born This Way,” and said he had provided several songs to her. Additionally, Francescatti’s complaint claims that Gaynor told her he “[p]layed bass, keys, co-wrote, engineered, and co-produced” three tracks on Gaga’s latest.
Despite this link between the two songs, Francescatti’s attorney, Christopher Niro, told NBC Chicago he did not see the case as one that will be easily won.
“These lawsuits are not resolved quickly, but it’s a way for artists like my client to knock on the doors of the high and mighty,” Niro told NBC.
According to FOX Chicago, Gaga’s record company has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
In addition to her time playing with her band, Francescatti also was formerly an faculty member at Robert Morris College, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Listen to “Juda” here.
