Drake’s ‘Way 2 Sexy’ Copyright Lawsuit Thrown Out Amid ‘Repeated Misconduct’ by the Plaintiff
Drake has been involved in a number of legal battles throughout his career, the most recent being a lawsuit from fashion magazine Vogue over his and 21 Savage’s doctored Vogue magazine covers. The rapper was also sued over his 2021 No. 1 hit single “Way 2 Sexy” over purported copyright issues. In December 2022, the case was thrown out due to the plaintiff’s behavior.
Drake got sued over ‘Way 2 Sexy’
Rapper Angelou Skywalker brought a legal case against Drake alleging the former Degrassi star gained access to Skywalker’s song “Reach For the Skies” after it was uploaded to the Universal Music Group-owned site Spinnup; Drake’s OVO Sound imprint is a part of UMG.
According to AllHipHop, however, Skywalker’s case was not as serious as it seemed. Skywalker reportedly sent a series of inappropriate emails to both the prosecutors and U.S. district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who presided over the case in Washington, D.C., and has been accused of filing over 50 irrelevant motions.
In one email, Skywalker told the court to “tell Aubrey that if he doesn’t show up then I’ll become Adonis’s Dad one day while he’s off sniffing up other stinky butt bites thinking about the next way to set they pum-pump p**** on [fire].” He was also accused of sending a lewd photo to Judge Kollar-Kotelly.
The court dropped the ‘Way 2 Sexy’ lawsuit because of the plaintiffs
In December 2022, Judge Kollar-Kotelly ruled that “Way 2 Sexy” did not share enough elements with “Reach For the Skies” to rise to the level of copyright violation. “The court finds that while Plaintiff does allege ownership of a valid copyright, he does not allege facts to show Defendants’ access to Plaintiff’s song nor substantial similarity,” the judge’s decision read. “The court grants defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety.” The documents attributed the tossing out of the case to “repeated misconduct” on the part of the plaintiff.
“The common short words that Plaintiff emphasizes in both his and Defendants’ songs are not protectable elements of his work,” the ruling continued. “They are similar to — and in some instances, more ubiquitous than — other words and phrases that courts have held not to be protectable. Here, common words like ‘sexy,’ ‘yeah,’ ‘kickin’,’ ‘okay,’ ‘action,’ ‘scenes,’ ‘where,’ ‘been,’ ‘today,’ ‘make,’ and ‘hundreds,’ among others that Plaintiff emphasized, are not protectable, nor is a phrase like ‘wa-pow.’”
Right Said Fred was upset with Beyoncé
“Way 2 Sexy” samples Right Said Fred’s 1991 song “I’m Too Sexy.” It isn’t the only song by a major artist to interpolate the funky song: Taylor Swift included it in her 2017 single “Look What You Made Me Do,” and Beyoncé lifted the chorus’ pattern for her Renaissance song “Alien Superstar” in 2022.
Right Said Fred expressed their anger with Beyoncé’s use of the song in an October 2022 interview with The Sun.
“Normally, the artist approaches us but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person. She just had probably thought ‘come and get me’ so we heard about it after the fact when you did. But everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us,” the duo said.
“To use our melody, they need our permission, so they send us the demo and we approve it and if so we get a co-write credit,” Right Said Fred continued. “With this Beyoncé thing, there are 22 writers it’s ridiculous.”
“The reason that is happening we think is because there is so little money now in the actual sales, people like friends, golfing partners, engineers, bookers, and the guy who brings the coke, they all want a cut. We can’t stop it,” they went on. “There is nothing we can do. It is s***.”
