A judge threw out copyright claims over Flo Milli’s 2023 hit “Never Lose Me” after ruling that the man bringing the lawsuit does not technically own a beat sampled in the track.
The Friday (Nov. 6) court ruling, obtained and first reported by Billboard, dismissed the lawsuit without any opportunity to amend. But the case is not over for good; an attorney for the plaintiff said they intend to appeal.
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The case was brought last year by Shamar Deal, a Baltimore-based artist who purchased a beat called “Youu” on the rap instrumental marketplace Traktrain in 2019. Deal said that after he paid $200 for a 10-year exclusive license, producer Gerreaux Katana wrongly turned around and relicensed the beat to Babyface Ray and 42 Dugg for their 2023 song “Ron Artest.” Flo Milli then sampled “Ron Artest” on “Never Lose Me,” which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Deal sued all three rappers for copyright infringement. On Friday, however, Judge André Birotte Jr. found that Deal does not actually own the rights to “Youu.” That’s because copyright law requires all exclusive licenses to be signed by both parties — and Traktrain never got Katana’s signature to sell the beat to Deal.
According to Deal, the fact that Katana uploaded the beat to Traktrain and accepted his $200 should be enough to validate the license. But Judge Birotte said there’s no room for ambiguity here. He quoted a decades-old appellate ruling on the topic: “The rule is really quite simple: If the copyright holder agrees to transfer ownership to another party, that party must get the copyright holder to sign a piece of paper saying so.”
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The ruling highlights a potential pitfall of online instrumental marketplaces, which have become a common source of beats for aspiring rappers in recent years. As experts have previously told Billboard, casual licensing arrangements can later come back to haunt artists and producers in a business that relies on proper legal paperwork.
Deal’s attorney, Larry Zerner, cited the prevalence of the online beat economy when telling Billboard on Friday that they “respectfully disagree” with Judge Birotte’s decision and plan to appeal it.
“Shamar Deal paid for an exclusive license to this beat,” said Zerner. “The producer listed it for sale as an exclusive, set the price, took the money, and confirmed the sale in his own emails. Shamar also has a contract with the producer that confirms all of these facts. That’s how thousands of independent artists buy beats online every single day, and they deserve to know that the licenses they pay for will hold up. We’re confident the Ninth Circuit will see it that way.”
David Given, a lawyer representing Babyface Ray and his distributor EMPIRE, told Billboard on Friday, “Our clients are grateful for the court’s carefully reasoned decision dismissing the case for copyright infringement against them.”
Reps for Flo Milli and 42 Dugg did not immediately return requests for comment on the ruling.