R&B artist Chris Brown and rapper Drake face another copyright infringement lawsuit over their 2019 hit song no guidance.
Two years after a previous copyright lawsuit over the song was dropped, the artists Tekia Dore and Mark Stephens sued Brown and Drake, along with several other songwriters and some music publishers, claiming no guidance Plagiarized their 2016 song i got it.
The lawsuit also seeks damages Youtube and parent company letter and Google The plaintiff claims that Marc Stephens suffered “defamation” in the dispute over YouTube’s takedown notice.
In a complaint filed on Friday (October 25) in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Dole and Stephens claimed no guidance‘s writers used key lyrics i got it and change it to “You got it.”
“The choir… no guidance is a continuous use of the word[s] “you got it”, using the same chord progression, rhythm, pitch, key, melody, harmony, tempo, structure, phrasing and lyrics as the Plaintiff’s song i got it,” the complaint asserts, which can be read in full here.
“The defendants deliberately ‘covered up’ the illegal use of the title of the plaintiff’s song and the chorus ‘I Got It’ by using the title ‘Without Guidance’ when there was no mention of the title in the chorus and they changed ‘I Got It’ to ‘I Got It’ ‘.
The complaint also claims that “it’s impossible not to hear that the two songs are fundamentally similar,” and as evidence, it points to a comparison video posted on YouTube (now deleted) in which commenters apparently agreed that the two songs were similar.
no guidance You can hear it on YouTube below, while Tikeiya’s i got it It can be heard here.
The lawsuit names Brown and Drake as defendants, as well as no guidance co-author tyler bryant (aka Velus), not charlesand Mickey LeBrunand song producer Anderson Hernandez (aka vinyl), Joshua Huizar (aka J-Lewis), Teddy Waltonand Noah Shebib (aka 40).
Also named as defendants are Sony Music Entertainmentof RCA Recordsas well as a host of music publishers interested in the track.
In an unusual twist, the lawsuit also names YouTube and its parent companies Alphabet and Google, which the complaint alleges started no guidancevideos on YouTube and defamed defendant Marc Stephens, claiming he submitted a “fraudulent” removal request on YouTube no guidance.
In May of this year, YouTube removed Marc Stephens’ YouTube channel due to “concerns,” the lawsuit states.[s] Some of the information in your deletion request may be fraudulent.
Days later, the video service informed Stephens that his channel had been permanently deleted and he was banned from creating any other YouTube channels.
“Without guidance… Use the same chord progression, tempo, pitch, key, melody, harmony, rhythm, structure, phrasing and lyrics as the Plaintiff’s song I got it.
Lawsuits against Chris Brown and Drake no guidance
After a series of back-and-forth communications, in which Stephens threatened to sue YouTube for defamation, saying his takedown notice may have been fraudulent, in July of this year YouTube reportedly relented and reinstated Stephens’ channel, concluding that it had been “Error termination”.
“However, we have reviewed this matter and found that you have not identified a copyrighted work. Therefore, we are unable to process your request,” YouTube said in an email to Stephens.
the lawsuit states i got it The song was published in 2016 and uploaded to YouTube in 2017, but the copyright for the song was not registered until July 13, 2019, a few weeks later no guidance was released.
no guidance A huge hit in 2019, peaking at No. 5 billboard hot 100 Made in the U.S. and awarded 8x Platinum certification Recording Industry Association of America. The track was awarded 2 Platinum Awards in the UK and 3 Platinum Awards in Canada. There are over 100 official videos on YouTube 480 million views and has been played over 1 billion Second-rate Spotify.
The complaint states no guidance Interview by co-writer Vinylz i got it through banji moviez” YouTube channel, while fellow co-writer Nija Charles received a copy of the song from Tikeiya’s uncle, Jesse Spruels.
back no guidance After the song was released, Sprules contacted Charles “to confront Plaintiff about stealing the chorus from her song,” but he never told Tikea about it because he felt “incompetent, humiliated, and embarrassed,” the lawsuit states. .
The lawsuit seeks “damages and equitable relief in an amount not less than US$5 million”.
The new lawsuit comes more than three years after Chris Brown and Drake previously sued over the issue. no guidanceone of the singers and producers, Brandon Cooper and Timothy Valentine,claim no guidance Infringing the copyright of their tracks i like your clothes.
The two plaintiffs agreed to drop the lawsuit in September 2022.
Both Brown and Drake have faced multiple copyright infringement lawsuits in recent years. british music publisher green sleeves Brown indicted in 2021 over 2017 track privacy. The lawsuit was settled in 2022.
Drake was sued by Ghanaian artist last year Obraforwho claims the Canadian rapper used a sample of one of Obrafor’s compositions on the track without authorization call my name.global music business
