Madonna Being Sued Over ‘Vogue’ Two Decades After The Single’s Release

Becky Bain | July 13, 2012 12:14 pm

Twenty-two years after releasing one of the biggest hits of her career, “Vogue”, Madonna is being sued for copyright infringement for allegedly sampling another song in her 1990 single.

VMG, a company out of Delaware, is suing the pop star and WB Records, claiming that “Vogue” samples a song called “Love Break”, which was released in the late 1970s. “The portions of ‘Love Break’, which have been copied into ‘Vogue’ and all its various ‘mixes,’ ‘remixes’ videos, YouTube versions, etc. are numerous but intentionally hidden. The horn and strings in ‘Vogue’ are intentionally sampled from ‘Love Break’ throughout.”

So, why did it take this long for them to file a suit? “The unauthorized sampling was deliberately hidden by [Madonna] within ‘Vogue’ so as to avoid detection,” reads the lawsuit. “It was only when VMG specifically looked for the sample, with the technology available to it in 2011, that the sampling could be confirmed.”

VMG is seeking damages “in addition to [Madonna’s] profits that are attributable to the copyrighted material.”

“Vogue” originally appeared on I’m Breathless, the soundtrack to the 1990 film Dick Tracy, which also starred Madonna. The song’s video, directed by David Fincher, won three VMAs and remains one of the singer’s most iconic videos (though the majority of our readers prefer Madge’s more recent dance clips).

As we’re unable to find a recording of “Love Break”, we can’t weigh in on how obvious this alleged unauthorized sampling is in “Vogue”. Funny that Madonna is being sued for reportedly lifting another artist’s material, since she’s been more than willing to give Lady Gaga a hard time about the similarities between “Express Yourself” and “Born This Way”.

[Via E! Online]

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