Juice WRLD Sued by Yellowcard for $15 Million Over “Lucid Dreams”
Written by SOURCE on October 22, 2019
Juice WRLD has been sued by Yellowcard for copyright infringement over his 2017 single “Lucid Dreams.”
Billboard reports that a complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in California Monday by Yellowcard’s William Ryan Key, Peter Michael Mosely, Longineu Warren Parsons, and Sean Michael Wellman-Mackin alleging that the song copies “melodic elements” from the song off their 2006 concept album Lights & Sounds.
Juice WRLD is named in the suit alongside co-writer Taz Taylor, publishers Taz Taylor Beats and Artist 101 Publishing Group, publishing administrator Kobalt Music Services, producer Nicholas Mira and his publishers, BMG Rights Management, Grade A Productions, and Interscope.
“The high degree of objective similarity between the Original Work and the Infringing Work extends well beyond the possibility of coincidence and could only reasonably be the result of an act of copying,” the suit states.
An analysis chart is included in the complaint showing that the songs shared “a number of common elements” including vocal melody, hook, and melisma. Additionally, the suit points to a public statement Juice WRLD made about his fondness for Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree album, produced by Neal Avron. Avron, of course, also produced multiple Yellowcard albums, Lights & Sounds among them.
Yellowcard is now seeking damages in excess of $15 million with a running royalty and/or ownership share of “Lucid Dreams.” Alternatively, they will seek statutory damages for each act of alleged infringement and for Juice WRLD and other defendants to be enjoined from future exploitation of the 2017 breakout hit.
Yellowcard released their final album as a band in late 2016. Juice WRLD, notably, has run into legal trouble over “Lucid Dreams” before by way of Sting.
