Relatively unknown Chicago-based singer Rebecca Francescatti has filed a lawsuit against Lady Gaga for alleged copyright infringement on her hit single "Judas."
According to TMZ, Francescatti claims that "Juda," a song she recorded in 1999 with her band Rebecca F. & the Memes, has multiple similarities with Gaga's track, chief among them the fact that Francescatti's former bass player Brian Gaynor is now employed by a music company that wrote 17 songs for Gaga's Born This Way album.
NBC Chicago reported that Gaynor was open with Francescatti and admitted that he was writing for and working with Gaga.
Francescatti's lawyer, Chris Niro, told TMZ that his client is seeking proper recognition for her original work.
"Though the songs are different styles, the composition is the same and the chorus is the same melody," he told the site. "[Rebecca] is seeking recognition for what she created."
By "recognition," Francescatti means money she believes is owed to her.
In the lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by the Huffington Post, Francescatti names Gaga, Interscope Records, Universal Music Group, DJ White Shadow and sound engineer Brian Joseph Gaynor as participants in creating the single "Judas," a song that bears "a substantial similarity" to "Juda" in that Gaga allegedly "copied and incorporated substantial, original portions" of the work, though it was previously copyrighted and recorded with Gaynor. Francescatti is reportedly seeking a cut from the profits "Judas" has earned.