April 25, 2007 10:35

Beyonce pulls album due to lawsuit

'BDay - Deluxe Edition' gets deleted

Photo Gallery: Beyonce
Photo: Pa Photos

Beyonce has been forced to delete a special version of her current album - following legal problems.

As previously reported the singer is in the process of being sued by singer Des’ree following allegations that she did not get permission to cover a song called ’I’m Kissing You’ on ’B Day - Deluxe Edition'.

Allegedly a deal to use the song did not come to fruition, but Beyonce re-recorded the song as ’Still in Love (Kissing You)’ and made a video.

Beyonce’s legal team state that it was only a month before ’B Day - Deluxe Edition''s release - on March 3 - that they had a “confirmation letter and license request”.

However, the Royalty Network’s lawyers answered her request by submitting a counter proposal in which they granted permission to use the song within certain limits. These included the specification that they could not use the song in video form and that the title of the song would not be changed, reports MTV News.

The Royalty Network’s lawyers said that “despite follow-ups” they didn’t hear back from Beyonce’s team. They alleged that on March 27, despite their protests, they discovered that the singer planned to proceed with their plans to include a video of the song with a different title on her album anyway.

In a letter to Beyonce’s lawyer, the Royalty Network called the move “completely unacceptable”.

The Royalty Network came to an agreement with the singer on April 16 that her record company would “engage in no further distribution” of the album or video anthology until at least a preliminary injunction hearing on May 4. They are also seeking £74,804 ($150,000) in damages.

Speaking about Des’ree’s song earlier this year, Beyonce said: “It was one of my all-time favourite songs. It gives you this emotion - I don’t care who you are, you just feel it. So I just did it for myself - a lot of songs, I do like that - and I let people hear it and they were like, ‘You are crazy, you have to put it on the album.’ So I did. It was a last-minute decision.”