The 'Lucid Dreams' hitmaker is facing a copyright infringement legal battle against Yellowcard over accusations that he illegally sampled the band's 'Holly Wood Died'.
- Oct 23, 2019
AceShowbiz - Rapper Juice WRLD is facing a $15 million lawsuit from the band Yellowcard alleging he ripped off their track "Holly Wood Died".
The pop punk group, who had several minor hits in the mid-2000s before breaking up in 2017, claim that Juice WRLD's smash hit "Lucid Dreams" lifted melodic elements of their song "Holly Wood Died" without authorisation.
According to Billboard, Yellowcard's members are seeking $15 million, royalties, and co-ownership of the song, which reached number two on the Billboard chart.
As part of their case the band have provided a chart analysing the two songs melodic and vocal similarities.
"The high degree of objective similarity between the Original Work and the Infringing Work extends well beyond the possibility of coincidence and could only reasonably be the result of an act of copying," they state in their filing.
Yellowcard also attempted to establish a link between the rapper and their music, notably claiming that in interviews he's revealed he listened to "emo pop rock," "the precise genre of Yellowcard's music."
They quoted Juice WRLD, real name Jarad A. Higgins, saying he "listened to and educated himself in Emo pop rock music" in order to impress a girl he liked in the fifth grade of elementary school.
The complaint claims that the statement by the 20-year-old musician matches with when "Holly Wood Died" was released as part of Yellowcard's hit 2006 album "Lights and Sounds".
Yellowcard are also suing Lucid Dreams' co-writer Taz Taylor, producer Nicholas Mira, publisher BMG Rights Management, his record label Grade A Productions, and Interscope Records.
