Kelsea Ballerini Takes Legal Action After Alleged Hacker 'Illegally Released' Her Songs (Exclusive)

"Protection of an artist’s music is of the upmost importance," a spokesperson for Ballerini tells PEOPLE

Kelsea Ballerini has taken action against an alleged hacker who is accused of leaking her music.

The singer, 30, filed for a temporary restraining order against Bo Ewing, who is accused of illegally obtaining and sharing "still-in-production, unreleased masters and demos" of Ballerini's music, court documents reviewed by PEOPLE show.

The alleged hacker, based in Ohio, is identified as "a former member of Ms. Ballerini’s fan club" and "a supporter of her career in the past" who "has since become disenfranchised with Ms. Ballerini" in the motion. Along with the singer, the plaintiffs are listed as Black River Entertainment and Alysa Vanderheym, a producer who worked on Ballerini's recordings.

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Court documents allege that Ewing obtained the files "through gaining back-door access to the device of either, or both, of Ms. Ballerini or Ms. Vanderheym."

The plaintiffs also noted Ewing had already shared the files with multiple third parties and that the music in question was unfinished.

To protect these recordings from being further illegally released, Ballerini, Black River Entertainment and Vanderheym secured an injunction to protect the recordings going forward, specifically citing, "continued, irreparable harm" on the plaintiff's part.

A spokesperson for Ballerini tells PEOPLE exclusively, "Protection of an artist’s music is of the upmost importance. Artists spend countless hours perfecting their craft and telling their stories through their music. Stealing and sharing unfinished music is illegal and harms the integrity of the creative process.”

Related: Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes' Relationship Timeline

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This latest legal move comes only weeks after Ballerini led a star-studded lineup of country's biggest stars at the 2024 CMT Awards. The artist hosted the Austin, Texas-based awards show for the fourth year in a row, her final time taking on the gig.

Beyond handing out awards (plus reading Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce and Jelly Roll's minds in a fun bit), the country singer took the stage to perform a new, reimagined version of her debut single, “Love Me Like You Mean It.”

Ballerini was joined at the award show by her boyfriend, Chase Stokes, who donned a cream Dolce & Gabbana suit jacket with a white shirt underneath contrasted by black trousers and black shoes. His ACM-nominated girlfriend took on one of nine looks for the night in a red David Koma dress with Effy jewelry for their couples flicks on the red carpet.

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Read the original article on People.