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Legal News

Drake and Chris Brown Reportedly Face Another Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over 2019 Hit 'No Guidance'

After a separate lawsuit was dropped two years ago, a new complaint alleges the song infringes on the copyright of the 2016 song "I Got It" by Tykeiya.

Drake and Chris Brown in the 'No Guidance' video

Drake and Chris Brown in the 'No Guidance' video

YouTube

Drake could need some guidance on a new lawsuit. The Canadian superstar is named in a suit alongside Chris Brown alleging that their 2019 hit "No Guidance" copies a 2016 track, "I Got It" by Tykeiya, as reported by Music Business Worldwide. "No Guidance" hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped several charts like Hot R&B Songs and R&B/Hip-hop Airplay, as well as passing one billion plays on Spotify.

The singers faced a previous suit that was dropped in 2022, but the new legal complaint comes from different parties. Tykeiya Dore and Marc Stephens are suing Drake, Brown, and the rest of the song's writers (Nija Charles, Michee Lebrun and Tyler Bryant) and producers (Anderson Hernandez, Joshua Huizar, Teddy Walton, and Noah Shebib).


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The complaint, filed in United States district court in New Jersey, is posted in full on Music Business Worldwide. It alleges that the writers took the hook from Tykeiya's "I Got It" and changed the lyric from "I got it" to "you got it." Further, the plaintiffs claim that Dore's uncle, Jesse Spruils, sent "I Got It" to one of the "No Guidance" writers, Nija Charles, and that Spruils confronted Charles after "No Guidance" was released about the similarities, with Charles blocking him on social media.

Dore and Stephens are seeking $5 million in damages. The suit also names YouTube as a defendant, accusing the company of defaming Stephens. Stephens says he filed takedown requests of "No Guidance" and that YouTube responded by calling Stephens' claims fraudulent, eventually deleting his channel (it was later re-instated).

"Its [sic] impossible to not hear the two songs are substantially similar," reads the lawsuit.

Listen for yourself to "No Guidance" and Tykeiya's "I Got It" below:

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Ella Langley
Courtesy Photo
Ella Langley
Country

Ella Langley Toasts ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Setting All-Time Hot 100 High: ‘Today Doesn’t Feel Like a Real Thing’

Langley's hit surpassed Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" for the most weeks ever spent at No. 1 on the chart.

Texas forever. Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” smash notched a 23rd week atop the Billboard Hot 100 on Tuesday (Sept. 22), and the country star celebrated breaking the record for having the the most weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. chart with a heartfelt video posted to Instagram thanking her fans.

“I’m genuinely trying to find the words to help explain what’s going on in my brain today,” she began. “Thank you so much for loving this song, for listening to it… I’m running out of hyperboles to describe how I feel.”

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

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