Kendrick Lamar Sued for Copyright Infringement over “Loyalty”
A musician named Terrance Hayes has levied a lawsuit against Kendrick for copyright infringement over…
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A musician named Terrance Hayes has levied a lawsuit against Kendrick for copyright infringement over Lamar’s 2017 hit single Loyalty.
The track, which is on Lamar’s fourth album, Damn, features a guest appearance from Rihanna. Loyalty also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance in 2018.
According to the court documents filed on August 21, Terrance Hayes claims he had previously recorded his own song called Loyalty in 2011 with musician and producer, Josef Leimberg.
The document filed in California Federal court also adds that Terrace Martin, a Kendrick Lamar collaborator who co-wrote and produced Lamar’s 2017 hit Loyalty, had also previously worked with Josef Leimberg.
In that vane, Terrace Martin and Josef Leimberg are also named as co-defendants.
Hayes maintains that he wrote his track called Loyalty in 2011. It was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and then recorded with Leimberg at a studio in Los Angeles that same year.
Hayes alleges that all his recording sessions were maintained on Leimberg’s computer system. He also alleges that Martin had access to his recordings via his working relationship with Leimberg.
According to the court documents, Hayes alleges that the defendants named “copied the entire composition, including title, melody, harmony and rhythm” from the track he says he wrote in 2011 and that they “slowed it down through a synthesizer and combined it with another sample to disguise the copying”.
The document also adds that “the melody of the Infringing Song is identical to the Subject Track with a few minor variations, which can be seen by juxtaposing both melodies”.
“The Infringing Song copies substantial qualitative and quantitative portions of the Subject Track, including the same song title, similar subject matter, substantially similar note combinations and structures, melodies, themes, rhythm, and kick and snare patterns,” states the filing.
“Both songs use the same chord progressions, melodies and other aspects throughout, and neither song features any changes in the musical elements as the recordings progress toward their conclusions.”
Hayes is pushing for a trial by jury and he is seeking to “be awarded all profits of Defendants”, in addition to “any other monetary advantage gained by the Defendants through their infringement, the exact sum to be proven at the time of trial”.
Other Court Document Details
“Due to Defendants’ acts of copyright infringement as alleged herein, Defendants, and each of them, have obtained direct and indirect profits they would not otherwise have realized but for their infringement of Plaintiff’s rights in Plaintiff’s copyrighted sound recordings.
“As such, Plaintiff is entitled to disgorgement of Defendants’ profits directly and indirectly attributable to Defendants’ infringements of their rights in the sound recordings in an amount to be established at trial.”
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