Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment has scored a major legal victory after a federal judge dismissed a copyright lawsuit involving the opening of “Alien Superstar,” one of the standout songs from her Grammy-winning Renaissance album. The decision puts the legal battle on hold for now, although the plaintiff insists the case is far from finished.
According to Billboard, the lawsuit focused on the robotic spoken-word intro featured on “Alien Superstar,” which samples the 1998 house track “Moonraker” by John Holiday, better known as Foremost Poets. Before releasing the song in 2022, Parkwood secured a license directly from Holiday, paying him $10,000, giving him a songwriting credit, and granting him a 0.5% royalty stake.
However, in 2025, Florida-based Hirose Enterprises LLC sued, arguing that it—not Holiday—held the copyright to “Moonraker” after acquiring the rights years earlier through the now-defunct Soundmen on Wax label.
That ownership dispute never made it to the core of the case. Instead, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi threw out the lawsuit after ruling that Hirose Enterprises did not have the legal standing to sue because the company had not yet been legally established when the complaint was filed.
Court documents revealed that the lawsuit was filed on August 4, 2025, while Hirose Enterprises was not officially incorporated until August 12, 2025—a procedural mistake that ultimately proved fatal to the case.
In his ruling, Judge Scarsi even referenced the disputed sample, writing, “Please do not be alarmed, remain calm: like the DJ booth referenced in the works at issue, this district judge must conduct a troubleshoot test of the entire system — that is, a jurisdictional inquiry — before reaching any of the parties’ merits arguments.”
He went on to conclude that “Plaintiff had no legal existence at the time it brought suit, so it cannot have held a stake in the outcome of the litigation at the time it filed the complaint.”
As a result, the court dismissed the claims against Parkwood, as well as Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing, and Warner Chappell.
Notably, Beyoncé herself was never listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Despite the dismissal, the plaintiff has no plans to walk away. Attorney DaShawn Hayes told Billboard that Hirose Enterprises is weighing its legal options moving forward.
“While my client is disappointed with the court’s ruling, it is not discouraged,” Hayes said. “My client will continue its pursuit against Parkwood and Ms. Knowles-Carter until their wrongs have been addressed and rectified.”
Parkwood has not publicly responded to the ruling.
The lawsuit is the latest legal dispute involving Renaissance, an album widely praised for honoring the legacy of dance music through its licensed samples and interpolations.
Back in 2022, “Alien Superstar” also sparked headlines after Right Said Fred questioned the song’s use of “I’m Too Sexy.” At the time, Beyoncé’s representatives maintained that the interpolation had been properly requested, licensed, and fully compensated before the track was released.
