Black Eyed Peas Hit With Lawsuit for Grammy Nominated Single

Two Chicago songwriters filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against members of the Black Eyed Peas on Tuesday (Jan. 26) claiming that the group stole material from their song "Boom Dynamite" to create the Grammy-nominated single "Boom Boom Pow," from the multi-platinum album, 'The E.N.D.' Ebony Latrice "Phoenix Phenom" Batta and Manfred Mohr appeared in a Chicago courtroom to explain that they had submitted their track to Interscope Records for consideration, only to hear it appear on the radio one year later in a modified version.

The duo's lawyer, Ira Gould, told AllHipHop News that it was easy to hear the similarities between the two songs. "My clients submitted their copyrighted song 'Boom Dynamite' to Interscope Records after Interscope had shown interest in some of their music, and the Black Eyed Peas later copied the song when they wrote "Boom Boom Pow," Gould said. "A simple listening of the two songs will tell you that the songs are substantially similar, and that the hooks of the two songs are virtually identical in rhythm and lyrics." This new lawsuit marks the third time in the past year that the Black Eyed Peas have been hit with accusations of copyright infringement. In July 2009, the group was sued by UK DJ Adam Freeland who accused them of stealing snippets from his song "Mancry" for their song "Party All The Time," and in September 2009, Will.i.Am. and Fergie were sued for copycatting a song titled "VooDoo Doll," from Fergie's album 'Duchess.'

"Boom Boom Pow" has been nominated for "Best Dance Record" at this year's Grammy Awards. The show will air live on Sunday, Jan 31.