Drake ‘Janice STFU’ Lawsuit, Supreme Court Ruling, Mariah Carey Win & More Music Law
Billboard ·
In this week's Legal Beat newsletter, Drake gets sued over a chart-topper, SCOTUS spurns the majors, Mariah Carey beats a defamation case and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Drake is facing a copyright lawsuit over his chart-topping Iceman single “Janice STFU,” filed by a songwriter who says the star copied the song’s infectious hook from an earlier demo. And both sides are playing for keeps.
The new case, brought by Aviel Calev Hirschfield, claims the track “shamelessly” copies his demo , which he says he sent directly to “Janice” producers FNZ. He says Drake’s hook is “literally identical” to his — “word-for-word, note-for-note, beat-by-beat, the exact same chorus.”
Meanwhile, Drake isn’t just denying the allegations. In a scathing response statement, his team called the case a “manufactured and baseless attempt to exploit Drake’s name” and that “Drake wrote this song and has no connection or knowledge of this person, full stop.”
Taken together, that all means this is not your run-of the-mill song-theft case, where a complete rando and his no-name lawyer appear out of the woodwork to allege that a huge hit sounds sorta, kinda, somewhat similar to his, and then the star rigidly vows to “vigorously defend” themselves.
Repped by a well-known Hollywood firm, Hirshfield says he has proof that he wrote eight lines of lyrics that appeared verbatim in Drake’s song. And the star is not vaguely denying it — he’s saying these claims are completely made up . According to court filings, Drake’s team believes Hirshfield “manipulated the metadata” to essentially forge evidence to support his accusations.
Those are entirely irreconcilable positions. Which one will win out? Well, that’s what litigation is for.
You’re reading the Legal Beat , a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro , offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday, subscribe here .
– Summer Walker ’s dispute with Interscope is shining a new spotlight on California’s seven-year rule — a state labor law that has one massive, music-industry-sized loophole.
-Days after the Walker-Interscope case was filed, news broke that the singer was suing her management firm LVRN in a separate case, accusing them of defrauding her by skimming money.
-The Supreme Court refused to overturn Cyril Vetter’s landmark win that extended copyright termination globally, rejecting an appeal by major labels that warned it would cause “chaos” for the music business.
-The former gang leader convicted of murdering Tupac Shakur , Duane “Keffe D” Davis, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 killing of the rap legend.
– Mariah Carey won a ruling dismissing a long-running lawsuit claiming she defamed her brother in her bestselling 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey .
-A new lawsuit claimed that the rapper Cordae is violating his record deal by teaming up with Anderson .Paak for their upcoming collab album Heavy is the Crown .
-The Department of Justice sued a ticket broker over accusations it made $120 million reselling millions of tickets to Pitbull , Luke Bryan and Post Malone concerts — a far larger case than previous crackdowns.
– Dua Lipa ’s attorneys urged a judge to let her proceed with a lawsuit accusing Samsung of putting her face on millions of TV boxes without permission: “This case is straightforward.”
– Pooh Shiesty ’s lawyers told a judge he’s being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day for no reason while he awaits trial on charges that he held Gucci Mane at gunpoint.
-Universal Music Group and Sony Music filed a new legal case seeking to force DistroKid to disclose how many AI songs it uploads to streamers, arguing it’s crucial evidence in the battle against Suno.
– Dolly Parton ’s nephew urged a judge to lift the restraining order against him, arguing he never made serious threats of violence against anyone connected to the late star’s estate.
– Chance the Rapper won another battle in his legal war with ex-manager Pat Corcoran , securing a judgment that could come out to around $1.5 million.
-The estate of Drakeo the Ruler reached a settlement to resolve litigation against Live Nation and other companies over his fatal backstage stabbing at a Los Angeles hip-hop festival in 2021.
– Beyoncé ’s company blasted the refiling of a copyright case over a sample on the Renaissance track “Alien Superstar,” urging a judge to end it for good — and punish the plaintiff with monetary sanctions.
-Ye (formerly Kanye West ) was ordered to pay a construction contractor $321,000 — double a previous version — over on-the-job injuries suffered while renovating the rapper’s Malibu mansion.