Stella Lefty Plagiarism, Lil Durk, Bruce Springsteen: Music Law Recap – Billboard

In this week’s Legal Beat newsletter, the Stella Lefty plagiarism controversy, a verdict clearing Lil Durk, a ruling for Bruce and much more. Stella Lefty performs onstage on September 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images Trending on Billboard THE BIG STORY: They say all press is good press. They say that, right? Well, Stella Lefty is currently testing the absolute limits of the theory. Amid a meteoric rise, the country singer is the talk of the music industry. That’s partly because her viral breakout “Boston” is currently sitting at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 after 23 total weeks on the chart. But it’s also partly because large segments of the internet thinks she copied her way to the top. Related “Boston” has a songwriting credit for Noah Kahan, owing to its similarities to his own megahit “Stick Season.” Another track, “Summer You Were Mine,” is an interpolation of The Chicks’ 1998 hit “There’s Your Trouble.” And three more Stella songs have drawn plagiarism hackles on social media. Songs that sound similar are hardly a new phenomenon in the music industry, especially in pop and country, and such overlap is rarely the result of outright theft.
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