Hirose Enterprises, LLC v. John Holiday

# Brief: Hirose Enterprises, LLC v. John Holiday et al. **Case No.:** 2:25-cv-06973 (C.D. Cal., filed July 29, 2025) --- **Plaintiff:** Hirose Enterprises, LLC, a California LLC and successor-in-interest to Soundmen on Wax, LTD's music catalogue. **Defendant:** John Holiday (a/k/a Foremost Poets / Johnny Dangerous), Parkwood Entertainment LLC (Beyoncé's management/label), Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing (US) LLC, and W Chappell Music Corp. d/b/a WC Music Corp. **Core allegation:** Defendants sampled a spoken-word intro from Plaintiff's 1998 sound recording "Moon Raker" — specifically the 0:21–0:31 mark lyrics ("Please do not be alarmed, remain calm…") — without authorization and embedded the manipulated sample into Beyoncé's "Alien Superstar" (released July 29, 2022 on the *Renaissance* album). Plaintiff alleges Holiday, who authored and performed on "Moon Raker," had already assigned all master recording rights to Plaintiff's predecessor for $1,500 and therefore had no authority to license the sample to the corporate defendants. **Asserted IP:** - Sound recording "Moon Raker" (Foremost Poets, 1998) — U.S. Copyright Reg. **SR0001027666** - Musical composition "Moon Raker" (Plaintiff holds 50% publishing interest per contract with Holiday) - Spoken-word lyrical excerpt sampled at 0:21–0:31 of "Moon Raker" and reproduced at 0:01 of "Alien Superstar" **Relief sought:** Compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages; injunctive relief; accounting of profits; and declaratory judgment of ownership. **Why it matters:** This is a direct challenge to the clearance process behind Beyoncé's *Renaissance*, one of the highest-grossing and most-streamed albums of 2022–2023, with Sony Music Entertainment and Parkwood Entertainment named as direct infringers alongside the publishing defendants.