A copyright lawsuit that claims a pair of Drake's chart-topping 2018 hits – “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What” – both featured an illegal sample of a New Orleans artist’s instrumental beat.
A copyright lawsuit that claims a pair of Drake's chart-topping 2018 hits – “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What” – both featured an illegal sample of a New Orleans artist’s instrumental beat.
A copyright lawsuit that claims a pair of Drake's chart-topping 2018 hits – “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What” – both featured an illegal sample of a New Orleans artist’s instrumental beat.
A copyright lawsuit that claims a pair of Drake's chart-topping 2018 hits – “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What” – both featured an illegal sample of a New Orleans artist’s instrumental beat.
Case 2:22-cv-00537-LMA-KWR Document 1 Filed 03/02/22 Page 1 of 7
United States District Court
Eastern District of Louisiana Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully Civil Action v. Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNmilD; Case No. 22-537 Musical Geniuses Records, LLC; Sec. Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia; Queen Diva Music, LLC; Mag. Big Freedia Enterprises LLC; Aubrey Drake Graham p/k/a Drake; Jury Demanded Warner Music Group Corp.; Fuse Media, Inc.; World of Wonder Productions, Inc.; Young Money Entertainment LLC.
COMPLAINT Now into Court comes Samuel Nicholas III who respectfully represents: 1. This is a civil action for injunctive and other relief under the Copyright Act, 17 USC §101, et seq., arising out of Defendants’ ongoing infringement of Plaintiff’s copyright in “Roll Call (Instrumental)”; and for a declaratory judgment under 28 USC §2201(a) of invalidity of copyrights asserted by some Defendants on the Plaintiff’s work. Related Case 2. This case is related to Civil Actions No. 19-12258 & No. 22-03416 in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Jurisdiction and Venue 3. This U.S. District Court has jurisdiction under 28 USC §1331 and 15 USC §1121 for claims under the Copyright Act, 17 USC §101, et seq., particularly 17 USC §501, et seq.; and for a declaratory judgment under 28 USC §2201(a). 4. Venue is proper in the Eastern District of Louisiana under 28 USC §1391 where most of the Defendants are subject to personal jurisdiction and are doing business, and where the acts complained of occurred or originated in such district. Plaintiff 5. Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully, is a person domiciled in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, is author and owner of US Copyright Registration No. SR-823-786, certificate copy attached here as Exhibit A, and is Plaintiff herein.
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Defendants 6. Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNmilD, is a person domiciled in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, is principal of Musical Geniuses Records, LLC, and is made Defendant herein. 7. Musical Geniuses Records, LLC is a Louisiana limited liability company domiciled in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, having Adam James Pigott as principal, and is made Defendant herein. 8. Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia, is a person domiciled in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, and is made Defendant herein. 9. Big Freedia Enterprises LLC is a Louisiana LLC domiciled in Louisiana, is a business entity for performances by Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia, and is made Defendant herein. 10. Queen Diva Music, LLC is a Louisiana LLC domiciled in Louisiana, is a business entity for recordings and publishing for Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia, and is made Defendant herein. 11. Aubrey Drake Graham p/k/a Drake is a person thought to be resident in California and a citizen of Canada, and artist performing the songs “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What”, and is made defendant herein. 12. Warner Music Group Corp. is a Delaware corporation headquartered in New York, is the parent corporation of the following identified subsidiaries or divisions, and is made Defendant herein. Asylum Worldwide LLC division of Warner Music Group Corp. is or was a publisher of works by Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a/ Big Freedia. East West Records LLC division of Warner Music Group Corp. is a publisher of works by Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a/ Big Freedia. Warner- Tamerlane Publishing Corp. is a subsidiary of Warner Music Group Corp., and is a publisher of the song “In My Feelings”. WC Music Corp. is a subsidiary of Warner Music Group Corp., and is a publisher of the song “Nice For What”. 13. Fuse Media, Inc. is a Delaware corporation with principal headquarters in California, is owner of Fuse TV, distributor of the Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce reality TV series, and is made defendant herein.
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14. World of Wonder Productions, Inc. is a California corporation, was the production company for the Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce reality TV series, and is made defendant herein. 15. Young Money Entertainment LLC is a Florida LLC, is a publisher of the song “In My Feelings”, and is made defendant herein.
Relevant Background 16. Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III published a compact disk (CD) in New Orleans in 2000 entitled “Vockah Redu And Tha Crew Can’t Be Stopped”. This CD is a registered sound recording with Copyright Registration No. SR0000823786. One of the tracks on the CD is “Roll Call”, and another track on the CD is “Roll Call (Instrumental)”. It is customary to provide instrumental-only tracks for songs in order to allow disk jockeys (DJs) to create extended-length mixes of songs. Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III relocated to Florida for employment purposes shortly after publishing the CD. Years later, after returning to New Orleans, Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III began to become aware that his copyrighted work “Roll Call (Instrumental)” had been taken and presented as the work of others. 17. On 29-DECEMBER-2017 Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III attended a show at Gasa Gasa nightclub in New Orleans where that night’s featured disk jockey was Freddie Ross, Jr., p/k/a Big Freedia, defendant here. Nicholas arrived after the show was already underway, and when Nicholas arrived, Big Freedia immediately stopped playing and would not resume playing. Therefore Nicholas did not have the opportunity to hear the music Big Freedia had been playing. 18. On 26-JULY-2018 Genius News published on YouTube a video interview of producer Adam Pigott p/k/a BlaqNmilD entitled “‘In My Feelings’ & ‘Nice For What’ Master New Orleans Bounce Because Of BlaqNmilD” in which Pigott explained how he added a sound recording he called “that beat”, which he had previously used in producing artists Big Freedia and Magnolia Shorty, into songs for artist Drake. The video interview reproduced an approximately 18 second sound clip of “that beat” while displaying an audio spectrum of it, labeled “blaq _ bouncebeat.wav”. When Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III became aware of that YouTube video months later, he recognized “that beat” to be an unauthorized copy of his copyrighted work “Roll Call (Instrumental)” authored by Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully.
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Allegations of copyright infringement
19. Defendant Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNmilD is a producer of recordings for artists including Defendant Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia, and was co-producer of the songs “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What” for Defendant Aubrey Drake Graham p/k/a Drake. 20. Defendant Musical Geniuses Records, LLC is a production company having Defendant Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNMilD as principal, and is believed to be the entity through which Defendant Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNMilD performed the actions at issue here. 21. Defendant Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia is a performer and disk jockey, and frequent collaborator with producer Defendant Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNMilD. 22. Several works published by Defendants Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia and Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNMilD use a direct copy of the sound recording “Roll Call (Instrumental)” as the only non-vocal sound track in the song, and another large number of songs incorporate a direct copy of the sound recording as the major, identifiable portion of the sound track. 23. Defendant Fuse Media, LLC through Fuse TV published and continues to publish the television series Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce, which was produced by Defendant World of Wonder Productions, Inc. Throughout the series there occur scenes of Defendants Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia and Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNMilD, and others, behind the scenes in a recording studio adding a direct copy of the sound recording “Roll Call (Instrumental)” to various songs, and scenes of those songs being performed, including music videos being made. 24. In the Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce reality TV series, the direct copy of a sound recording at issue here was first used as a background instrumental during the first minute of season 1, episode 1, and was logged as having title “Roll Call Instrumental” and composer “Adam Pigott (BMI)”. The music was logged as being used multiple times in later episodes, under the titles “Roll Call Instrumental”, “Roll Call Beat Part 2.aiff”, and “Roll Call (Instrumental).aiff”. 25. Defendant Adam J. Pigott p/k/a/BlaqNMilD claims a copyright in the work he identifies variously as “Roll Call Instrumental”, Roll Call Beat Part 2.aiff”, “Roll Call (Instrumental). aiff”, and “that beat”.
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26. A major theme of the early seasons of the Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce reality TV series was the production and performance of “Bounce” music having a distinctive rhythm or “beat”, where the “beat” was a direct copy of the copyrighted sound recording “Roll Call (Instrumental)” authored by Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully. The copyrighted music was not newly performed and was not otherwise significantly modified or interpreted, but was directly copied to become the featured rhythm track of new “Bounce” works having the distinctive “Bounce” rhythm supplied by the direct copying of the copyrighted sound recording. 27. In the identified 26-JULY-2018 video interview Defendant Adam J. Pigott p/k/a/ BlaqNMilD stated that the sound recording “that beat” was used in the songs produced for Defendant Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia. All of the many songs incorporating a direct copy of “Roll Call (Instrumental)” infringe the copyright on that sound recording. 28. Asylum Worldwide LLC division of Defendant Warner Music Group Corp. published sound recordings by Defendant Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia, including works accused of copyright infringement here, under a recording agreement known to be in effect in 2017 and 2018, with the present status unknown. 29. East West Records LLC division of Defendant Warner Music Group Corp. presently publishes sound recordings by Defendant Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia, including works accused of copyright infringement here. 30. The accused infringing works published by Defendants Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia, Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNMilD, and Warner Music Group Corp. divisions Asylum Worldwide LLC and East West Records LLC continue to be re-published, and new works have been published within the past three years and up to the present time. 31. Defendant Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia performed accused infringing works during several live performances in 2021, as shown in audiovisual recordings published in 2021. 32. The album Scorpion by Defendant Aubrey Drake Graham p/k/a Drake, containing the works “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What”, was published on 29-JUNE-2018 by Defendants Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., WC Music Corp., and Young Money Entertainment.
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Remedies 40. Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully seeks all available relief under 17 USC §501, et seq. 41. Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully seeks injunctive relief under 17 USC §502 for all acts of infringement. 42. Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully seeks impoundment of infringing articles, where applicable, under 17 USC §503. 43. Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully seeks damages and profits under 17 USC §504 for acts of infringement committed within the applicable limitations period. 44. Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully seeks costs and reasonable attorney fees under 17 USC §505.
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45. Where any Defendant claims a copyright on the sound recording “Roll Call (Instrumental)”, or a percentage of copyright on works containing a direct copy of the sound recording “Roll Call (Instrumental)”, Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully seeks a declaratory judgment under 28 USC §2201(a) of the invalidity of such copyrights on infringing works claimed by such Defendants.
Jury Demand 46. Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully demands trial by jury of all issues so triable.
Wherefore Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III p/k/a Sam Skully prays that, after due proceedings, the Court render judgment against Defendants Adam J. Pigott p/k/a BlaqNmilD; Musical Geniuses Records, LLC; Freddie Ross, Jr. p/k/a Big Freedia; Big Freedia Enterprises LLC; Queen Diva Music, LLC; Aubrey Drake Graham p/k/a Drake; Warner Music Group Corp.; Fuze Media, Inc; World of Wonder Productions, Inc.; & Young Money Entertainment LLC for copyright infringement, damages, treble damages, profits, costs, reasonable attorney fees, and injunctive and other equitable relief under copyright law, declaratory judgment, and any other equitable or legal remedies authorized by law.
Dated: 2 March 2022
Respectfully Submitted: Attorney for Plaintiff Samuel Nicholas III s/Mark Edw. Andrews/ Mark Edw. Andrews La. Bar No. 26172 Andrews Arts & Sciences Law llc 7104 Coliseum St., New Orleans, LA 70118 504-383-3632 [email protected]
—Certificate— I, Mark Edw. Andrews, certify this document is filed via the court’s CM/ECF system this 2 March 2022. s/Mark Edw. Andrews/
