Moroccan singer Ilham Karaoui has been accused of plagiarizing a song that was released a year ago belonging to Israeli pop duo Static & Ben El, N12 reported on Monday.
Karaoui's song, titled "Habiby," was released last Friday. The melody and production are quite similar to that of the Israeli duo's song "Habib Albi" (English: My True Love), which features Israeli singer Nasrin Kadri.
The video by Karaoui contained a small credit to Static as a producer. However, the Moroccan singer had not contacted Static or Jordi, the original song's producer, for the rights, according to the report. Neither Static nor Jordi were involved in creating the Moroccan song, and only heard about its existence recently.
The song by the duo, which is described as a pride anthem to promote LGBTQ+ rights, had garnered over 30 million views on YouTube.
A PR manager representing the duo said: "This is a blatant copy that leaves no room for doubt. Giving credit to Static as a producer for a stolen song is a joke."
This is also not the first time that Static and Ben El had their music plagiarized, as KAN reported last December that the Israeli duo threatened a lawsuit against Romanian artist Danny Moko for also copying the same exact song. The duo had also made headlines in recent months, as they performed on the James Corden show in April.