Black Eyed Peas copy producer deadmau5?

The Black Eyed Peas have had their single 'The Time (Dirty Bit)' compared to similar music originally made by producer Joel Thomas Zimmerman, better known as deadmau5.

After receiving "a few Tweets on and off" about how the Black Eyed Peas may have sampled the dance producer's beats, Zimmerman took to Facebook to address the accusations of plagiarism.

Zimmerman said that after he initially dismissed the comparisons, he later began to suspect that the headlining pop group may have sampled his material.

He wrote on his Facebook account: "i so know that highat… and the pattern it was in… 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)"

Zimmerman told fans: "This isnt calling the black eyed peas out at all. This is just another interesting factoid i keep finding about sampling and electronic music… which is clearley prevalent and welcomed (when used properly) in this genre of music no doubt." (sic)

There has yet to be a public reaction from the Black Eyed Peas.