Alicia Keys Faces Copyright Infringement For Sampling Music And Lyrics From 1970 R&B Hit ‘Hey There Lonely Boy’

Alicia Keys may be earning universal praise for her hit single “Girl On Fire,” but the track is now getting her something she didn’t expect: a lawsuit.

Earl Shuman, an accomplished songwriter from the 1960s and 1970s claims that Keys’ track sounds eerily familiar to “Lonely Boy,” a track he wrote in 1962. In 1970, Eddie Holman recorded the track as “Hey There Lonely Girl” and hit number two on the Billboard charts.

Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411 was the first person to notice Keys’ allegedly illegal sample. In his online post, Friedman claims:

“Alicia sings a couplet or so from Eddie Holman’s 1970 classic ‘Hey There Lonely Girl’… Keys only uses two seconds of the original, but it helps make her record.”

Shuman saw Friedman’s post about Keys sampling “Hey There Lonely Girl” and decided to file suit against the songstress for failing to clear rights. Shuman references Friedman in the suit:

“While the Showbiz411.com statements that Shuman has ‘gone to rock and roll heaven’ and concerning ‘two seconds’ of use are not accurate, Plaintiff alleges that the above observations by Showbiz411, in their essence, are apt.”

The two songs can be heard and compared below. The first song is the new version from Alicia Keyes, and the second song is the work of Earl Shuman:

In late November, The Inquisitr posted an article about the praise Alicia Keys song “Girl On Fire” has been receiving. If Earl Shuman wins his lawsuit, does that discredit Alicia Keys as an original artist?