Members of now-defunct US band Yellowcard have sued US rapper Juice WRLD for alleged copyright infringement.
According to Billboard, a complaint filed in US District Court this week by William Ryan Key, Peter Michael Mosely, Longineu Warren Parsons and Sean Michael Wellman-Mackin alleges the Chicago hip hop artist "copied elements" from their 2006 song, Holly Wood Died, for his 2018 track, Lucid Dreams.
The members of the pop punk outfit are seeking damages of $US15 million and a "running royalty and/or ownership share" in any future profits for Lucid Dreams.
The complaint also says Yellowcard claim to be owed from previous Juice WRLD tours and appearances given the "overwhelming success" of the song, which peaked at #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
“Defendants copied the Original Work without license or consent, and have exploited the subsequent Infringing Work and Infringing Sound Recording to their collective benefit without regard to Plaintiffs’ rights and to Plaintiffs’ detriment,” the complaint reads.
“The Infringing Work and Infringing Sound Recording directly misappropriates quantitatively and qualitatively important portions of Plaintiffs’ Original Work in a manner that is easily recognizable to the ordinary observer. The Infringing Work and Infringing Sound Recording are not only substantially similar to the Original Work, but in some places virtually identical."
Juice WRLD, who is set to tour Australia next month in support of the Spilt Milk and SandTunes festivals, is yet to publicly respond to the complaint.
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