Drake and Chris Brown are calling a lawsuit filed against them for their 2019 song “No Guidance” frivolous and baseless as they responded to the copyright infringement suit on Thursday.
The lawsuit was brought by two virtually unknown artists, Brandon Cooper and Timothy Valentine, in October 2021 and alleged that the two Grammy award-winning artists stole their 2016 track “I Love Your Dress,” which they used to create “No Guidance.”
The main element of the lawsuit against Drake and Chris Brown is that they stole the hook “you got it”. The assertions have been rejected by James Sammataro, the lawyer representing both Drake and Brown.
Sammataro has argued that the phrase the duo claims is common in copyright law, and the songs do not bear any similarity that gives rise to a cause of action, Billboard reported.
“Plaintiffs’ suit is premised upon the alleged similarity [to a] wholly generic lyrical phrase,” Sammataro said in response to the plaintiffs. “No one, including plaintiffs, can own or monopolize the non-copyrightable phrase ‘you got it,’ and it should come as no surprise that this phrase appears in countless other works.”
Cooper and Valentine’s complaint is not only claiming they stole their line, but they also claim that “No Guidance” was copied or derived “the beat, lyrics, hook, rhythmic structure, metrical placement, and narrative context” of their song “I Love Your Dress.”
Sammataro also addressed the claim and denied that the songs bear similarities.
“The Court can hear for itself that the total concept and feel of the songs are vastly different,” he wrote. “Plaintiffs’ song is a slow, R&B love ballad about the writer’s wife featuring one vocalist and relatively few lyrics. In sharp contrast, ‘No Guidance’ is a faster, longer, and sexually explicit rap and R&B song about a new romantic interest.”
The trial of the case is ongoing.
