Pop-punk veterans Yellowcard have hit Juice WRLD with a $15 million lawsuit, alleging that the rapper’s song ‘Lucid Dreams’ copies melodic elements of their 2006 track ‘Holly Wood Died’ without permission.
The lawsuit claims the Juice WRLD hit “directly misappropriates quantitative and qualitatively important portions of [‘Holly Wood Died’] in a manner that is easily recognizable to the ordinary observer,” and that Juice WLRD and co-writer and producer Taz Taylor and Nick Mira knowingly copied the Yellowcard song.
In addition, the pop-punk act have sued publisher BMG Rights Management, record label Grade A Productions, Interscope Records and more.
‘Lucid Dreams’ was one of the biggest singles from Juice WRLD’s 2018 debut Goodbye and Good Riddance. Based around the Sting track ‘Shape of My Heart’, the lawsuit alleges that Juice WRLD and collaborators licensed that song, but not Yellowcard’s.
“This was not a lawsuit the guys wanted to file,” Yellowcard lawyer Richard Busch told Rolling Stone.
“They put all of the parties on notice to try to resolve it. That notice was pretty much ignored leaving them with no real choice. As alleged in the complaint, this is not just a generic emo rap song, but is a blatant copy of significant original compositional elements of ‘Holly Wood Died’ in several respects.”
As Pitchfork notes, the suits references an interview in which Juice WRLD discusses his fondness for Fall Out Boy’s 2005 album From Under the Cork Tree. The album’s producer, Neal Avron, would go on to perform ‘Holly Wood Died’.
Yellowcard are seeking over $15 million in damages, as well as royalties and co-ownership of the song.
Have a listen to both tracks below.
