Beyoncé’s management and label, Parkwood Entertainment, has filed new court documents asserting that it properly licensed the electronic dance music (EDM) sample featured in her 2022 hit “Alien Superstar.” The filing, submitted on Wednesday, December 17, comes in response to a copyright lawsuit brought this summer by indie label Soundmen on Wax Records, which claims ownership of the 1998 song Moonraker, from which Beyoncé sampled the track’s spoken-word introduction.
The Moonraker lyrics sampled for Alien Superstar include: “Please do not be alarmed, remain calm / Do not attempt to leave the dancefloor / The DJ booth is conducting a troubleshoot of the entire system.” The sample plays at the very beginning of the song, which reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, setting the tone for the high-energy, genre-blending track.
According to Parkwood Entertainment, the company obtained both a recording and composition license from the original Moonraker artist, John Holiday. Court filings indicate that the license cost $10,000 and granted Holiday a 0.5% share of Alien Superstar royalties. The central dispute in the case is not whether Parkwood obtained a license at all, but whether John Holiday had the authority to license the track in the first place.
Soundmen on Wax asserts that it purchased the rights to Moonraker from Holiday as part of a distribution deal in 1998, meaning it should have been the party to approve Beyoncé’s sample. In its filings, Soundmen claims that Parkwood improperly cleared the sample with Holiday alone, bypassing the label that it says held legal ownership for decades.
Parkwood’s lawyers, representing the company through Latham & Watkins, counter that there is no documentation verifying the alleged transfer of rights from Holiday to Soundmen on Wax. Without any official record, Parkwood argues, it could not have known of any conflicting claims. “As plaintiff concedes, Parkwood obtained a master use and composition license for the relevant Moonraker sample from Holiday,” the filing states. “That good faith, nonexclusive license prevails over plaintiff’s alleged undocumented and undisclosed transfer, which was never recorded.”
The legal team asserts that this lack of documentation renders Soundmen’s lawsuit “meritless” and argues that it should be dismissed without delay. In addition to Parkwood, Sony Music and Warner Chappell—both named as defendants—are supporting the motion to dismiss the case. Notably, Beyoncé herself is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Beyoncé’s Team Moves to Dismiss Copyright Lawsuit Over “Alien Superstar” Sample
This case marks one of several legal challenges stemming from Beyoncé’s Renaissance, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in August 2022. The album was celebrated for its inventive use of samples and interpolations, blending house, disco, and electronic influences. Some of the referenced artists, like Robin S. of Show Me Love, publicly praised Beyoncé for including their work, while others, such as Kelis, were less enthusiastic about their songs being sampled.
The extensive use of samples on Renaissance has resulted in multiple lawsuits. In addition to the Alien Superstar case, a lesser-known New Orleans group filed a claim last year over the lead single, Break My Soul. That suit alleged that the track, which incorporated a Big Freedia sample, copied lyrics from the 2002 release Release a Wiggle. That particular case, however, was quickly dropped, underscoring the complexities of sampling in contemporary music.
Parkwood Entertainment’s motion emphasizes that its license with John Holiday was obtained in good faith, with clear financial terms and royalty arrangements. By contrast, Soundmen on Wax has not provided evidence of an official, documented rights transfer from Holiday, which the filing argues undermines the label’s legal standing.
The outcome of this motion could set an important precedent for how licensing disputes over decades-old recordings are handled in the music industry. In an era where sampling remains a common creative practice, questions about proper rights ownership and documentation are increasingly relevant, particularly when multiple parties may claim authority over the same material.
For now, Beyoncé and her team remain confident in their position. Parkwood maintains that all proper procedures were followed in clearing the Moonraker sample and that the lawsuit lacks substantive merit. As the case moves forward, music industry observers will be watching closely to see how courts navigate the intersection of modern sampling practices and long-standing copyright claims, and whether other similar suits related to Renaissance tracks will emerge.
In the meantime, Alien Superstar continues to enjoy commercial success and acclaim, highlighting Beyoncé’s ongoing ability to blend innovative music production with thoughtful nods to her musical influences, even as legal debates unfold around the samples she incorporates.
