Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment is trying to end the fight over the voice that opens “Alien Superstar.” In motions filed in federal court in Los Angeles on October 15, 2026, Parkwood asked a judge to permanently dismiss a second lawsuit over the sample and to sanction the plaintiff, Shuji Hirose, and his attorney, DaShawn Hayes, Music Business Worldwide and Billboard reported.
The sample
The intro to the Renaissance track, which reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022, comes from “Moonraker,” a 1998 house record by John Holiday, who performs as Foremost Poets. Billboard quoted the spoken lines: “Please do not be alarmed, remain calm/ Do not attempt to leave the dancefloor.” Parkwood licensed the sample directly from Holiday in September 2022, paying him $10,000 plus 0.5% of the track's royalties, according to MBW.
Hirose, who ran the defunct New York label Soundmen on Wax, claims Holiday had already signed his rights in the recording and composition over to that label in 1998, keeping only an equal share of the publishing revenue, and so had nothing to license, MBW reported. Hirose's complaint states that the defendants kept exploiting the track after receiving written notice around January 2023 that the use was unauthorized.
Parkwood's argument
Parkwood says the new case contradicts what Hirose said under oath in the first one. According to Parkwood, Hirose declared in that case that Holiday had transferred only “50/50 publishing” rights, MBW reported. Under copyright law, a co-owner can generally grant a nonexclusive license without the other co-owner's permission, Law Commentary explained, which is why Parkwood argues Holiday could clear the sample. “Parkwood cannot be liable for allegedly infringing a work it had a valid license to use,” its dismissal filing states.
“These new allegations cannot be squared with Mr. Hirose's prior sworn statements,” Parkwood's lawyers at Latham & Watkins wrote, according to Billboard. Parkwood also argues the claims were filed too late. Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell's W Chappell Music Corp., also defendants, backed the dismissal bid. Their filing points out that a Delaware company Hirose uses was listed as claimant on a March 2025 copyright registration while its formation certificate was canceled, MBW reported. Hirose's complaint says that once the company was revived, it stands as though the cancellation never happened. These are arguments in court papers, and Billboard said Hayes is likely to respond in writing before the hearing.
How it got here
The first suit, filed July 29, 2025, by Hirose Enterprises, LLC, was dismissed on June 26, 2026, after US District Judge Mark C. Scarsi found the company had not been formed until eight days after it sued, a ruling on standing rather than on whether the song infringed. Hirose refiled on August 10 in his own name with a Delaware company, adding Beyoncé personally as a defendant and a breach of contract claim against Holiday, MBW reported. Hirose seeks unspecified damages, profits and an order barring use of the “Moonraker” recording.
Billboard said Hayes did not return a request for comment. Both motions are set to be heard on February 4, 2027, by US District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, according to MBW.