Madonna is facing legal action after allegedly sampling another track in her hit song 'Vogue'.
Label bosses and VMG Salsoul have accused the star of using horns and strings from Salsoul Orchestra's 1975 hit 'Chicago Bus Stop (Ooh, I Love It)', TMZ reports.
The lawsuit claims that Madonna never paid to use the sample in the song, from which she has made huge profits since its release in 1990.
The alleged sampling was only recently discovered by VMG Salsoul using new technology designed to isolate and identify specific sounds.
VMG Salsoul, who are claiming copyright infringement, are demanding unspecified damages.
Madonna is currently on her world tour, which comes to London's Hyde Park on July 17.
Compare The Salsoul's 'Chicago Bus Stop' and Madonna's 'Vogue' below:
A more detailed report:
A Delaware company has hit Madonna and her label WB Records with a lawsuit claiming the pop star stole portions of one of their songs for her hit 1990 hit "Vogue," reports E!.
Pointing to a song called "Love Break," released around 1977, VMG claims, "The portions of 'Love Break,' which have been copied into 'Vogue' and all its various 'mixes,' 'remixes,' videos, YouTube versions, etc., are numerous but intentionally hidden. The horn and strings in 'Vogue' are intentionally sampled from 'Love Break' throughout."
The company also says music producer Richard "Shep" Pettibone facilitated the process by altering the samples after he was originally hired by VMG to remix "Love Break," later working on "Vogue."
"The unauthorized sampling was deliberately hidden by [Madonna] within 'Vogue' so as to avoid detection. It was only when VMG specifically looked for the sample, with the technology available to it in 2011, that the sampling could be confirmed," VMG said.
VMG claims they served WB Records with a copyright infringement notice in July 2011 and February 2012 and are seeking damages on top of "[Madonna's] profits that are attributable to the copyrighted material." Representatives for Madonna have yet to comment.