Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesAndy Samberg's gonna need a lawyer for this rap.
The Saturday Night Live funnyman and NBC have found themselves on the receiving end of a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by a St. Louis music producing team who allege Samberg swiped their tunes to use as the basis of two of the SNL Digital Shorts he did with his Lonely Island mates.
Here's the deal.
Per the complaint filed in a federal court in New York and obtained by E! News, Aleric Banks and Monique Hinds claim they gave Samberg instrumental music masters to which he put lyrics and then exploited with his Lonely Island collaborators, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, in his Emmy-nominated 2009 sketch with Rihanna called "Shy Ronnie."
According to court docs, the comedian then allegedly used other master tracks of theirs in the SNL sketch "Like a Boss," featuring Seth Rogen.
The duo is seeking a full accounting of all the profits so they can obtain both credit and producer royalties for the use of the compositions as well as unspecified damages and court costs.
Other defendants named in the action include Schaffer, Taccone, Universal Republic Records and NBCUniversal.
A rep for the conglomerate (also the parent company for E! Entertainment) was unavailable for comment.
In case you missed it, check out "Shy Ronnie" below.