Drake Lawsuit Ruling, Maverick City Case, Taylor Swift Song Debate & More Top Music Law News

THE BIG STORY: Less than a twelvemonth aft Drake filed a stunning suit against Universal Music Group (UMG) implicit Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” a national justice tossed it retired of court. Her reason? That context is crucial.

Drake’s lawsuit claimed that UMG defamed him by releasing Lamar’s scathing diss track, which tarred his arch-rival arsenic a “certified pedophile.” He believed that millions of radical took that lyric literally, severely harming his reputation.

That mightiness person been true, said Judge Jeannette Vargas, if Kendrick called him a pedo successful a discourse wherever radical expect to perceive “sober facts,” similar a quality story. But successful a bid of diss tracks? Where Drake himself had suggested Kendrick wasn’t the begetter of his ain son? In that setting, the justice said, radical expect to perceive bombastic insults that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium true.

“The signaling was published arsenic portion of a heated nationalist feud, successful which some participants exchanged progressively caustic, inflammatory insults and accusations,” Judge Vargas wrote. “This is precisely the benignant of discourse successful which an assemblage whitethorn expect the usage of epithets, fiery rhetoric oregon hyperbole alternatively than factual assertions.”

That result should astonishment nobody. Back successful May 2024, months earlier Drake sued, I asked experts whether specified a lawsuit would marque consciousness — adjacent though it felt unthinkable astatine the clip that a rapper would ever writer implicit a beef. Those lawyers told maine that specified a suit stood small accidental of success, and for precisely the reasons Judge Vargas gave past week.

But the lawsuit isn’t implicit yet. Despite wide disapproval and hefty ineligible bills, Drake seems intent connected warring this 1 retired til the bitter end: “We mean to entreaty today’s ruling, and we look guardant to the Court of Appeals reviewing it,” a rep said aft the decision. That means we could inactive beryllium talking astir the Drake v. Kendrick beef successful 2026 oregon beyond. Stay tuned.

Other apical stories this week…

MAVERICK MELEE – Days earlier Maverick City Music co-founder Chandler Moore announced his abrupt departure from the Grammy-winning worship collective, helium sued the group and main enforcement Norman Gyamfi for fraud, claiming they stole millions of dollars’ worthy of royalties from him. The radical strongly denied the claims arsenic “wildly untrue,” alleging that Moore is conscionable trying to “strong-arm” his mode retired of his contracts with Maverick City.

“STOP DEMONIZING” – Amid a statement implicit whether Taylor Swift’s caller songs dependable similar aged classics by The Jackson 5 and The Pixies, Charlie Puth took to societal media to seemingly connection indirect enactment for his superstar pal. Though helium ne'er mentioned Taylor straight successful his TikTok post, Puth told fans that “there’s lone 12 notes successful a scale” and that determination are “bound to beryllium similarities” to aged songs erstwhile songwriters trade caller ones. “We person to truly halt demonizing this erstwhile it happens,” helium said.

RISE UP … IN COURT – Andra Day and Jeff Evans, her manager of much than a decade, filed dueling lawsuits against each other, with each accusing the different of hoarding much than their just stock of royalty payments. Evans sued first, claiming Day was refusing to grant declaration provisions that entitle him to a 40% royalty connected her publishing and a 20% committee connected different profits. Day past sued him back, claiming the manager had stolen much than $1 cardinal successful royalties: “Evans abused his relation arsenic a fiduciary to scam Day with blindless greed,” her lawyers wrote.

A SWIFTIE SCORNED – A Taylor Swift instrumentality filed a people action against StubHub implicit allegations that the institution refuses to grant its “FanProtect Guarantee,” leaving her with intelligibly “inferior” seats aft she dropped $14,000 connected Eras Tour tickets. The pistillate claims her pricy tickets were voided connected the time of th...