Things are not going Ariana Grande's way at the moment. The Hollywood Reporter reports that the 20-year-old singer, Sony/ATV, UMG Recordings, and others are being sued over a set of lyrics in Grande's hit song, "The Way." Plaintiff Minder Music claims that Grande has violated copyright infringement of of the 1972 hit "Troglodyte," a funk song by American disco group The Jimmy Castor Bunch.
The song includes this set of lyrics: "What we're gonna do right here is go back, way back, back into time.” Minder Music claims that sentence is "substantially similar" to Grande's opening phrase in "The Way," which reads as follows: "What we gotta do right here is go back, back into time."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit claims that "the songs' phrases are strikingly similar in several ways."
ABC News reached out to Grande's legal team and was told that "the alleged offending materials were not provided by Ariana, and we trust that the co-writers and producers will resolve the claim with Minder."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Minder Music is seeking a permanent injunction and a declaration of willful infringement, among other charges.
"Troglodyte" is one of the more popular 1970s songs when it comes to samples. According to sample-based music database Whosampled.com, the 41-year-old hit has been sampled in 70 different songs, including works by Christina Aguilera, N.W.A., Lil' Kim, and Madonna.
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