Bellamy Brothers and Britney Spears May Begin Legal Brawl

The Bellamy Brothers are considering taking legal action against Britney Spears for her new single “Hold It Against Me,” which shares a similar title and hook to their 1979 hit “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me.”
 
In a statement concerning the pending legal action, attorney Christopher E. Schmidt, legal representative to the Bellamy Brothers, said, “In my opinion, it is not necessarily the similarity of the titles that is of legal concern. This would be more of a trademark issue. Rather, the issue is whether or not the exact lyrics 'would you hold it against me' are used in the same way in the hook of the song. It becomes somewhat uncanny if you simply double the beat of the Bellamy Brothers’ song and match it up with Britney's version."
 
Thousands of fans of both artist have noticed the similarities and are also questioning whether Spears “lifted” part of her song from the Bellamy Brothers version. In Schimdt’s opinion, the closeness is a little too uncanny.
 
“For me, the scale tips substantially in knowing that Dr. Luke not only co-produced Britney's song with Max Martin, but that Dr. Luke also co-wrote the song with Max Martin and others," said Schmidt. "This isn't the first time Max Martin and Dr. Luke have been accused of copyright infringement.”
 
In 2007, Dr. Luke and Avril Lavigne were sued for “lifting” sections of her widely popular song “Girlfriend.” The Beach Boys’ record label has also filed a claim against Dr. Luke and Max Martin for credit and royalties of Katy Perry's song “California Gurls.”
 
“Although this is not conclusive evidence that Dr. Luke intentionally lifted a phrase from a Bellamy Brothers song, it certainly shows a possible pattern and warrants a more serious look into the matter,” said Schmidt.
 
Daniel Moskowitz, a colleague with the Nashville law firm King and Ballow, has been called in to help. One of his partners in the firm, Richard Busch, has helped Eminem win a multi-million dollar suit against music records. The Bellamy Brothers recently met with Busch in order to handle the matter.
 
Busch has sent the two songs to a renowned musicologist who will evaluate them and give his expert opinion.