It’s almost like a rite of passage, in order to become a super-producer, you have to be sued for illegal use of a sample at least once—or at least that seems to be the case.

A number of big name producers have been served with court papers claiming they stole a riff, borrowed a drum pattern or flat out lifted an entire track.

Most recently Timbaland was hit with a $5 million lawsuit for allegedly using a sample without permission on Jay-Z’s hit single “Big Pimpin”, but he isn’t the only one.

Coveted beat makers from Kanye to Dr Dre have been accused of using samples without clearance.

Head over to HipHopWired.com for a list of 10 well-known producers who’ve been charged with heisting hits.