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Songwriter accuses Foxx of stealing lyrics

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Published: June 22, 2006 at 11:52 PM

DETROIT, June 22 (UPI) -- Jamie Foxx is being sued in Detroit for $15 million for allegedly stealing a song from songwriter Michael A. Johnson.

Johnson is suing Foxx, J-Records, Sony Records, BMG/Sony Entertainment and Face Production for a total of $75 million, Zap2 it.com reported.

He alleges that Foxx took lyrics from his copyrighted song, "One of God's Angels Is AWOL."

Johnson says he and a friend heard Foxx sing a song on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in December 2005, that sounded a lot like his own song.

"AWOL" was copyrighted in 2003 and mailed out to various record labels, including Sony Records and J-Records, Zap2it reported.

"Mr. Foxx stole the potential recognition I would have received for writing the one of the number one songs in the country," Johnson said.

The similar phrases Johnson says prove his case include, "One of God's angels missed roll call" in Foxx's song vs. "One of God's angels is AWOL." Also, "God's angel is lying next to me" (Foxx) is somewhat similar to "If God looked down He'll see His angel is here with me" (Johnson), Zap2 it.com said.

Topics: Jamie Foxx, Oprah Winfrey
© 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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