The Weeknd Sued Over Plagiarism Allegations
- 5 years ago
The Weeknd Sued Over
Plagiarism Allegations William 'Billy' Smith, Brian Clover and Scott McCulloch are taking legal action in a bid to receive the profits from The Weeknd's song, 'A Lonely Night'. According to court documents obtained by The Blast, they believe The Weeknd blatantly copied their own song, 'I Need To Love,' to create his track featured on his award-winning album, 'Starboy'. The trio wrote 'I Need To Love' in
2004-2005 and pitched it to a
number of artists. A division of Universal Music acquired the rights to all their songs in 2008. In 2016, they were told the label were
relinquishing all rights. The writers are seeking unspecified damages, along with $150,000 per infringement and forensic accounting to figure out how much they're owed. Last year, The Weeknd and Daft Punk were sued by Somali-American poet Yasminah, who accused them of "ripping off" her 1999 song, 'Hooyo,' for the title track of 'Starboy.'
Plagiarism Allegations William 'Billy' Smith, Brian Clover and Scott McCulloch are taking legal action in a bid to receive the profits from The Weeknd's song, 'A Lonely Night'. According to court documents obtained by The Blast, they believe The Weeknd blatantly copied their own song, 'I Need To Love,' to create his track featured on his award-winning album, 'Starboy'. The trio wrote 'I Need To Love' in
2004-2005 and pitched it to a
number of artists. A division of Universal Music acquired the rights to all their songs in 2008. In 2016, they were told the label were
relinquishing all rights. The writers are seeking unspecified damages, along with $150,000 per infringement and forensic accounting to figure out how much they're owed. Last year, The Weeknd and Daft Punk were sued by Somali-American poet Yasminah, who accused them of "ripping off" her 1999 song, 'Hooyo,' for the title track of 'Starboy.'