Beyoncé Blocked From Stopping $20M “Formation” Lawsuit

Beyoncé‘s legal team is going to have to stay in “Formation” for a little while longer.

According to Billboard, Louisiana federal judge denied the singer’s motion to dismiss the copyright claim on Tuesday. Her side is claiming fair use of a digital sampling of a sound recording – an act that the late Anthony Barre’s estate is suing over.

The artist, also known as Messy Mya, can supposedly be heard saying “What happened at the New Orleans,” “Bitch, I’m back by popular demand” and “Oh yeah baby. I like that.” His sister, Angel Barre, claims those samples infringe on two performance art works of Barre’s. “Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged in their complaint that Defendants did not change or alter the ‘expressive content or message’ of Anthony Barré’s YouTube videos, but rather used unmodified clips without adding anything new,” wrote the judge in her decision.

The Barre estate is seeking more than $20 million in royalty payments and other damages.