Recently, Melissa Jefferson, better known for their stage name Lizzo, and her label, Atlantic Records, have been sued by GRC Trust for alleged claims that Lizzo used portions of “Win or Lose (We Tried)” in her unreleased song “I’m Goin’In Till October” without the necessary license.
The issue comes after, allegedly, Lizzo and her team attempted to get the rights to sample “Win or Lose (We Tried)” but failed. The unreleased song using portions of the song without the license to do so would be an issue if it were to ever be released and make money from it, as that would take profits away from the original owners.
The odd thing about this lawsuit is that the song has not yet been released and as a result, can’t have made any profit that could have been taken away from the original property. However, the song has been made available to the public partially this August. A portion of the song was released in response to a controversy that was happening regarding Sydney Sweeney and an American Eagle jeans ad. This small clip gained a significant amount of attention online.
That portion that was posted online to social media is most likely the main culprit behind the situation. It is not clear how Lizzo would make money from a short post on social media, but that is likely what caused the lawsuit.
Allegedly, GRC Trust, “attempted informal resolution of the dispute” with Lizzo and her representatives but failed to reach a resolution, leading to the lawsuit.
It is unclear how this case is going to progress. It is unknown if this case will progress, get thrown out of court, or who will win in the end if it does go forward. I will be interested to see the result to see if a new precedent is set for copyright law.
