In response to Steve Ronsen's threat to launch a million-dollar lawsuit against the 'Born This Way' hitmaker, her lawyer accuses the songwriter of 'trying to make easy money.'

• Aug 10, 2019

AceShowbiz - Lady GaGa has been accused of stealing the melody for her Oscar-winning tune "Shallow" from U.S. songwriter Steve Ronsen.

The 33-year-old singer took home the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the track, from the movie "A Star Is Born", alongside co-writers Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando and Mark Ronson.

But now relatively unknown songwriter Ronsen is asking for "millions and millions" of dollars in a settlement, claiming that the three-note progression in the tune is taken from his 2012 tune "Almost", which has had less than a thousand streams on SoundCloud in the past five years.

To fight the allegations, GaGa has hired power lawyer Orin Snyder, who said in a statement to the New York Post's gossip column Page Six, "Mr. Ronsen and his lawyer are trying to make easy money off the back of a successful artist. It is shameful and wrong. I applaud Lady GaGa for having the courage and integrity to stand up on behalf of successful artists who find themselves on the receiving end of such (claims). Should Mr. Shirian proceed with this case, Lady GaGa will fight it vigorously and will prevail."

Ronsen alleges that the G, A, B note hook in "Shallow" was taken from "Almost", but GaGa's team hit back by responding that the note trio has appeared in musical pieces dating back centuries - such as Kansas' track "Dust in the Wind", released in 1978.

Contacted by Page Six, Ronsen's attorney Mark D. Shirian said in a statement, "In an effort to amicably resolve this matter months ago, my office provided Lady GaGa's legal team, at their request, with an official report from a renowned and respected musicologist and professor who determined that there are significant tempo, melodic, rhythmic and harmonic similarities between the two 'hooks' of the songs at issue. Lady GaGa's team has yet to provide my office with an opposing musicologist report, which we have requested multiple times."

It remains to be seen whether or not Ronsen goes forward with his threat to launch a million-dollar lawsuit against GaGa over the claims.