After the small-scale shit-storm which erupted in the wake of accusations that US pop group The Black Eyed Peas had sampled a track from dance big gun Adam Freeland without permission, you’d think that will.i.am and co would learn their lesson.

However the band are in hot water again with a slew of listeners alleging that the pop collective has stolen/sampled/borrowed part of their latest hit The Time (Dirty Bit) from enigmatic Canadian producer Deadmau5.

Fans of the ‘mau5-headed one have been flooding the producer with messages online recently comparing The Time to a Deadmau5 remix of Medina’s You & I, noting similarities in the instrumental loop.

Speaking out about the allegations on his Facebook, Deadmau5 too noticed the resemblance to his own work but made a point of saying that he was not “calling out” the band and was a supporter of sampling “when used properly”.

“i so know that highat and the pattern it was in [sic],” Deadmau5 explained of his realisation. “So i went to my masters folder, cracked open my instrumental mix of “You and i” remix thing i did for Medina… and there it was again, starring me in the face… [sic]”.

Deadmau5 later hopped online for a Ustream session in which he played his original sample alongside The Time and recreated the Black Eyed Peas song. A clever fan captured the video of that which you can view below. What do you think?