Destiny's Child heads to trial in song theft case

By Eriq Gardner

One wonders at times whether social media platforms were invented to let fans compare notes on songs and speculate on who is ripping off whom. Witness the controversy last year when rock guitarist Joe Satriani and an army of YouTube supporters alleged that Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" sounded just like Satriani's "If I Could Fly."

Coldplay now has company.

Destiny's Child is facing allegations that they stole another musician's song. And this one is headed towards trial.

Illinois District Court Judge James Holderman has ruled that a jury will need to hear testimony from Destiny's Child and their recording team to determine whether they stole Rickey Allen's 1994 song "Cater 2 U" to craft a song with the same name that came out in 2004 and had the same "three note theme."

Holderman quotes an "expert" who says that the songs "do not sound, at first listen, very much alike." The judge adds that the phrase "cater 2 u" is too general to be protected, but that the law requires him at the summary judgment phase to view the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiff and determine whether there was a reasonable possibility that Destiny's Child had access to the song. Holderman says this one is a close call, and so, "the resolution of which hinges entirely on the credibility of the witnesses."

Therefore, Beyonce may be appearing in Illinois soon to explain why she isn't a song thief.