Snoop Dogg has been sued for alleged copyright infringement by musician and producer Trevor Lawrence Jr. over the alleged use of two backing tracks on the 2022 album B.O.D.R.
The lawsuit, filed in California on Tuesday (July 15), notes that Lawrence has worked with a number of well-known artists including Herbie Hancock, Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, Lionel Richie, Ed Sheeran, and many more.
The lawsuit names Snoop Dogg (Calvin Broadus Jr.), Death Row Records (DRR) and blockchain platform Gala Music (BGP) as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, in his role as a producer, Lawrence “often authors instrumental musical compositions and sound recordings based upon those compositions,” which, the complaint explains, are referred to as “backing tracks.”
Lawrence’s lawsuit, which you can read in full here, adds that he then offers “these backing tracks to recording artists such as [Snoop Dogg] for use in creating derivative works”
The lawsuit continues: “Lawrence’s practice, which is standard in the music industry, is to create backing tracks ‘on spec’ – that is to say, of his own initiative and not at the behest of any third party.
“Once they are complete, Lawrence furnishes his backing tracks to recording artists for the limited purpose of allowing them to experiment with the tracks in-studio, with the understanding that a proper license will and must be negotiated to actually commercially release any derivative works based upon the backing tracks.”
In 2010, according to Lawrence’s complaint, he created two backing tracks under the titles Pop Pop Pop Goes My 9 and Get This D with Hook. Both tracks are claimed to have been registered with the Copyright Office.
“In or about November of 2020”, Lawrence claims, that he presented the tracks to Snoop Dogg for “potential in-studio experimentation” and that “Broadus [aka Snoop Dogg] responded positively” to the tracks “and requested that he be furnished with copies thereof”.
The lawsuit claims that Lawrence provided Snoop Dogg with digital copies of the tracks but that they didn’t reach an agreement “regarding whether Broadus could commercially exploit the Lawrence Tracks in any capacity”.
But then, in January 2022, Lawrence claims to have been contacted by “a representative of Broadus/DRR” to tell him that Snoop Dogg “intended to include a derivative work based upon Pop Pop Pop Goes My 9 in an upcoming album.”
During that phone call, according to the lawsuit, Lawrence told Snop Dogg’s representative that “his anticipated license fee would include, but was not limited to, a $10,000 flat fee producer advance payment to be recouped against a producer royalty”.
Lawrence claims that he informed Snoop Dogg’s rep that he “would also retain a 50% interest in the underlying musical composition and receive music publishing royalties for the derivative work”.
“At no point in time did Defendants, or any of them, communicate to Lawrence any intention to exploit the Lawrence Tracks in connection with a bundled offering such as BGP’s Stash Boxes, nor did Lawrence authorize any such exploitation of his work, which was never within his prior contemplation.”
Lawsuit filed by Trevor Lawrence Jr.
The lawsuit adds: “Lawrence further indicated that he expected the license to be properly ‘papered’ (i.e., reduced to a written agreement confirming the relevant scope and terms of the licensing arrangement). The representative confirmed that these anticipated terms were acceptable to Broadus/DRR.”
Lawrence claims that he was contacted by a rep again later in January to inform him that his backing track Get This D with Hook was also planned to be used in an upcoming Snoop Dogg album.
Snoop Dogg then released an album entitled BODR via Death Row Records on February 11, 2022, which included the tracks Pop Pop and Get This Dick. Lawrence claims that his backing tracks are incorporated in these two tracks.
The lawsuit continues: “Lawrence was not contacted by any representatives of Broadus or DRR between January 28, 2022 and February 11, 2022 or otherwise furnished with any paperwork to confirm the agreed-upon scope of use or terms of compensation for exploitation of the Lawrence Tracks as embodied in the Broadus Tracks.”
Lawrence alleges that he discovered that Snoop Dogg “and/or” Death Row Records had “authorized” Gala Music to “exploit” the tracks as part of a “bundled offering known as ‘Stash Boxes‘ wherein customers could acquire individual songs from the Album in conjunction with other media assets, such as non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) designed to both capitalize on the popularity of the Album and drive consumer interest in [Gala Music’s] overall business as an NFT platform”.
The lawsuit claims that “at no point in time did Defendants, or any of them, communicate to Lawrence any intention to exploit the Lawrence Tracks in connection with a bundled offering such as BGP’s Stash Boxes, nor did Lawrence authorize any such exploitation of his work, which was never within his prior contemplation”.
The complaint also alleges that to date, the “defendants have refused to properly license” Lawrence’s backing tracks “or compensate Lawrence for their use”.
The complaint states that “on information and belief, Defendants earned tens of millions of dollars through [Gala Music’s] Stash Box offering and, consequently, the unauthorized exploitation of the Lawrence Tracks”.
Lawrence is suing Snoop Dogg for alleged Direct Copyright Infringement, Contributory Copyright Infringement and Vicarious Copyright Infringement.
For all three counts, Lawrence seeks “an award of damages, including actual damages and the disgorgement of any and all gains, profits and advantages obtained by Defendants, as a result of their acts of infringement in an amount according to proof at trial”.
He also seeks “a temporary, preliminary and permanent injunction, prohibiting the continued infringement of the Recordings during the terms of copyright”.Music Business Worldwide