The North Carolina rapper is hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by a Florida producer, who accuses him of taking the beat from his song for the Roddy Ricch-featuring hit song.
- Dec 13, 2022
AceShowbiz - DaBaby is facing legal trouble. The North Carolina rapper has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by a Florida producer, who accuses him of taking the beat from his song "Selena" for "Rockstar".
JuJu Beatz, whose real name is Chraig Mims, filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Friday, December 9. In the suit, he names DaBaby, his "Rockstar" collaborator Roddy Ricch and producer Shethinkhekitchen in addition to Caroline Diaz, Warner Chappell, Universal Music Group and DaBaby's publishing company Project Dreams Entertainment.
"Plaintiff provided his musical composition known as Selena to Defendants in 2019, who then used Selena to create a sound recording entitled 'Rockstar'," the complaint states. "Defendant Diaz and DaBaby's representative accessed Plaintiff's Selena on more than 40 occasions in late 2019 and early 2020."
It continues, "On, or around April of 2020, Defendants DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, and Portaro released, through the other named Defendants, a sound recording titled 'Rockstar' that included many compositional elements from Plaintiff's Selena composition."
In the wake of the lawsuit, JuJu's attorney told Rolling Stone, "It is unfortunate that these types of situations occur almost daily within the music industry. The unequal balance of power and money in the industry is sometimes used to silence the real individuals who truly deserve a piece of the action and money."
The attorney adds, "It is too easy for the labels and mainstream artists and producers to cut out the ones who really matter the most. It is disheartening because there is enough money in the industry to change everyone's lives but the money usually ends up in the hands of the few."
JuJu is seeking statutory damages of $150,000 per infringement. DaBaby and Roddy, meanwhile, have yet to respond to the lawsuit.
