Beyoncé Tunes Out Lawsuit

Tue., Oct. 3, 2006 8:55 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

Beyoncé Knowles is feeling the "Baby" love. Jennifer Armour, not so much.

A U.S. District Court judge has thrown out a copyright-infringement lawsuit accusing the Grammy winner of ripping off one of Armour's songs for Knowles' 2003 hit "Baby Boy."

Armour, a Minneapolis singer-songwriter, filed the suit in Houston last July, claiming the 25-year-old superstar stole the chart-topping single's lyrics and hooks from "Got a Little Bit of Love For You," a song Armour had written and shopped around in the months preceding the hit's release.

The suit claimed the B'Day girl got a hold of the Armour song after her former manager sent out a demo to several music biz heavyweights. Among the studio recipients were Columbia Records and Atlantic Recording Corporations, the label homes of Knowles and reggae star Sean Paul, who is featured on the track.

However, on Monday, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit after comparing the two songs and finding that they were "substantially dissimilar."

"It's unfortunate that lawsuits such as this one occur, but I am grateful and relieved to have this behind me, and I am eager to move on," Knowles said in a statement released through Music World Entertainment, the management company run by her father, Mathew Knowles.

It's not the first time Knowles has gotten the chance to put such an event behind her.

In October 2003, Knowles, her Destiny's Child cohorts Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and Knowles' father were slapped with a $200 million copyright-infringement lawsuit by Miami-based producer Terrence "T-Robb" Robinson, who claimed they ripped off one of his tracks in their 2001 smash hit "Survivor."

According to the producer, the trio stole parts of "Glorious," a single he'd sent to the group's manager, the elder Knowles, in June 2000. Robinson claimed he hadn't realized his work had been pilfered until he heard the Destiny's Child song in a TV commercial.

Unfortunately, lawsuits in the Knowles family aren't strictly father-daughter affairs.

Last month, the chart-topper and her mother, Tina Knowles, were on the receiving end of a $1.5 million lawsuit by a former business associate who claims the designing duo owed him money from a deal he brokered that led to the creation of the Knowles' House of Dereon clothing line.

Beyoncé, meanwhile, is making sure she can pay for all those billable hours, and is prepping for a girl-powered fall tour in support of her sophomore solo album, B'Day.