Beyonce is reportedly being sued by the family of YouTuber Messy Mya for using his voice on her song, Formation.
Messy's relatives claim the opening sample, and another during the track, were taken from his videos.
They are said to be seeking $20m (£16m) in damages from Beyonce, Jay Z and Sony Music, according to US reports.
Messy, from New Orleans, was shot dead in 2010 and had spoken about young men being killed because of gang violence in his videos.
He had also written "I'll be there soon" on Facebook a day before his death, in reference to a friend who had died.
Beyonce released Formation in February 2016 and Messy's contribution was apparently no secret.
Soon after, i-D magazine wrote an in-depth feature on the life and death of Messy Mya (real name Anthony Barre).
The song opens with a clip from Messy's 2010 video, Booking The Hoes From New Wildin.
He says "what happened after New Orleans?" and "*****, I'm back. By popular demand," at the start of the track.
Another clip of Messy saying "Ooh yeah baby, oh yes I like that" from his A 27-Piece Huh? video is heard later in the song.
US gossip website TMZ claims Messy's family has previously attempted to contact Beyonce about use of the sample.
Newsbeat has contacted Beyonce's UK team for a statement and we await a response.
Formation was the first single from Beyonce's multi-platinum 2016 album Lemonade and was co-written by Khalif Brown of Rae Sremmurd and producer Mike Will Made It.
The song has sold upwards of 500,000 copies in the US alone, where it reached number 10 on the Billboard chart.