A four-second spoken-word sample has kept Beyoncé's record label tied up in federal court for over a year. Court filings show that Parkwood Entertainment, LLC, has twice defeated a copyright lawsuit over the sample that opens 'Alien Superstar', only for the underlying dispute to resurface again this month.
Beyoncé herself has never been named as a defendant in the case. The suit instead targets Parkwood, alongside Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell, and musician John Holiday, over rights to the sample heard at the very start of the 2022 Renaissance track.
What Hirose Claims and What It Cannot Prove
According to the operative complaint filed in the case, Hirose Enterprises, LLC v. John Holiday et al, Case No. 2:25-cv-06973, Holiday authored the sound recording and composition 'Moonraker' in 1998 before agreeing to transfer his rights to a company called Soundmen on Wax, Ltd. The complaint states Soundmen assigned that catalogue to Hirose Enterprises in 2008, and that Hirose subsequently obtained a US Copyright Office registration for 'Moonraker' bearing registration number Sr0001027666.
The filing alleges that Parkwood used an unauthorised sample of 'Moonraker' when composing 'Alien Superstar' in 2020, ahead of Renaissance's release on 29 July 2022, and that Parkwood was aware the sample had not been cleared through Hirose. Court records show Parkwood instead obtained a licence directly from Holiday, formalised in a written agreement executed on 6 September 2022, roughly six weeks after the album's release.
Why Two Judges Have Already Thrown the Case Out
The dispute has not gone the plaintiff's way so far. In a written order dated 25 March 2026, US District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong granted Parkwood's motion to dismiss, finding that Hirose had failed to adequately plead ownership of the copyright. The order noted that federal law requires any transfer of copyright ownership to be memorialised in a signed, written instrument, and that Hirose's complaint never alleged such a writing existed for either the 1998 or 2008 transfer.
The judge's order also flagged inconsistencies in Hirose's own filings, noting the original complaint claimed the company held '1/2 ownership of the publishing rights', while a later amended version claimed '100% ownership' of the same rights. Public records cited in the order further showed that Soundmen on Wax had gone inactive in New York state records in 2002. That was six years before it allegedly assigned rights to Hirose in 2008 – a timeline inconsistency that, if correct, would make the assignment legally impossible.
That March ruling gave Hirose fourteen days to file a further amended complaint rather than closing the case outright. According to subsequent reporting from Billboard and Music Business Worldwide, a later version of the suit was dismissed again on 26 June 2026, this time by US District Judge Mark C. Scarsi. Judge Scarsi dismissed the suit on the separate ground that Hirose Enterprises LLC itself was not legally formed until 6 August 2025, eight days after the lawsuit had first been filed in its name.
Beyoncé Slapped With Lawsuit Over Alleged Unauthorized Sample
— BlackMedia__ (@BlackMedia___) August 11, 2026
The 44-year-old singer is facing a new lawsuit over the alleged unauthorized use of a sample in “Alien Superstar,” from her 2022 album Renaissance. The lawsuit claims the material was used without proper… pic.twitter.com/zCLoGmT70N
Why This Case Keeps Coming Back and What Might Finally Stop It
Despite two dismissals, the underlying fight has not ended. Coverage from TMZ and Yardbarker this month reports that Hirose Enterprises has now filed again over the same 'Moonraker' sample, seeking an injunction against continued use of the recording along with unspecified damages tied to royalties and sales.
Parkwood has consistently defended its handling of the sample throughout the litigation. Court filings confirm the label obtained a written master-use and composition licence directly from Holiday's own companies, Attribute Events and Foremost Poets Publishing, and Holiday remains credited as a songwriter on the track. Representatives for Parkwood, Sony and Warner Chappell had not publicly commented on the newly refiled action at the time of writing.
'Alien Superstar' reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 following Renaissance's chart-topping debut, and the album's dense web of samples and interpolations has drawn separate scrutiny before, including a now-dismissed suit over lead single 'Break My Soul'. Whether this latest filing survives the same ownership and standing problems that sank its predecessors will likely determine if the 'Moonraker' dispute ever reaches a ruling on its merits.
For now, the case's outcome hinges on paperwork nearly three decades old.
