Celebrity Mound

apl.de.ap, will.i.am, Fergie and Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas

With over 5.5 million legal downloads, the track has knocked Flo Rida’s ‘Low’ off the top spot as the largest selling digital song since records were started by company Nielsen Soundscan in 2003.

‘I Gotta Feeling’ spent 14 weeks at number one in the US singles chart last year, and the track is still at number 37 in the chart compiled by iTunes – the largest legal download retailer.

Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am has previously said of his songwriting: “Lots of people say, ‘Black Eyed Peas s**t is simple,’ and I’ll be like, ‘No, fool, it’s the most complex s**t you even could fathom.’ That’s the reason it works everywhere around the planet.”

While ‘I Gotta Feeling’ is officially the most downloaded song, the band’s previous single ‘Boom Boom Pow’ – a US number one for 12 weeks – is at number four in the list with almost 5.3 million sales. Holding third place is Lady Gaga’s debut track ‘Just Dance’, with around 5.36 million downloads and her second single ‘Poker Face’ is at number five with over 5.13 million downloads.

With all of the tracks in the top five released in the last three years, the chart also reflects the trend in consumers converting to digital media to purchase tracks.

The Black Eyed Peas are facing another plagiarism lawsuit – a musician alleges the group’s hit BOOM BOOM POW is “virtually identical” to her own song.

Phoenix Phenom, along with associate Manfred Mohr, has filed a copyright infringement case against the band, alleging the rhythm and lyrics from her track Boom Dynamite were copied in the Black Eyed Peas’ 2009 global hit.

Phenom – real name Ebony Latrice Batts – claims she submitted Boom Dynamite to executives at Interscope Records, the Black Eyed Peas’ record label, according to gossip blogger Perez Hilton.

An attorney for Phenom and Mohr says, “My clients submitted their copyrighted song Boom Dynamite to Interscope Records after Interscope had shown interest in some of their music, and the Black Eyed Peas later copied the song when they wrote Boom Boom Pow.

“A simple listening of the two songs will tell you that the songs are substantially similar, and that the hooks of the two songs are virtually identical in rhythm and lyrics.”

Phoenix and Manfred are seeking unspecified damages, disgorgement of profits and punitive damages.

It’s not the first time the group has been accused of plagiarism – British DJ Adam Freeland threatened to take legal action last year after claiming his track Mancry was the inspiration for the Black Eyed Peas’ song Party All the Time.

The two parties reportedly reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement over the dispute.