Image via TMZ
A copyright infringement lawsuit over DaBaby’s No. 1 song “Rockstar” is underway.
According to Rolling Stone, a Florida producer has filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina rapper, alleging that DaBaby used the music from his song “Selena” to make the track “Rockstar,” which features Roddy Ricch.
The producer, real name Chraig Mims, who goes by the stage name JuJu Beatz, filed the lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He names Caroline Diaz, Warner Chappell, Universal Music Group, and DaBaby’s publishing house Project Dreams Entertainment as additional defendants, along with Roddy Ricch, DaBaby, and producer Sethinthekitchen.
“Plaintiff provided his musical composition known as Selena to Defendants in 2019, who then used Selena to create a sound recording entitled ‘Rockstar,’” the complaint states. “Defendant Diaz and DaBaby’s representative accessed Plaintiff’s Selena on more than 40 occasions in late 2019 and early 2020.”
The lawsuit adds: “On, or around April of 2020, Defendants DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, and Portaro released, through the other named Defendants, a sound recording titled ‘Rockstar’ that included many compositional elements from Plaintiff’s Selena composition.”
Although Warner Chappell, Universal Music Group, DaBaby, Ricch, Sethinthekitchen, Diaz, and others have not yet responded to the case, Mims’ lawyer told Rolling Stone, “It is unfortunate that these types of situations occur almost daily within the music industry. The unequal balance of power and money in the industry is sometimes used to silence the real individuals who truly deserve a piece of the action and money.”