Big Sean and Megan Thee Stallion faces lawsuit over copyright infringement for their “Go Crazy” collab.
The “Wap” rapper and Big Sean are being sued over their song by two artists from Detroit who allege that the two hitmakers stole their record. “Go Crazy,” featuring 2 Chainz, was released in November 2020, and according to Radar Online, two songwriters from Detroit named Duawn Payne and Harrell James have filed a lawsuit against the two artists. They have also named their labels Universal Music and 1501 Certified Entertainment are parties to the suit.
The song, which is featured on Megan’s Good News album, is alleged by the plaintiffs to be an exact copy of their song “Krazy,” released in 2012, was uploaded to ReverbNation.
Both songwriters, who are relatively unknown in the hip hop world, argue that they are well known in the Detroit area as they would often pass out CDs to members of the public to listen to their music.
“The Copyrighted Work is an original work of authorship and is particularly unique as a result of its catchy chorus—or hook—the centerpiece of the Copyrighted Work,” the lawsuit says.
Payne, who said in the lawsuit that he is known by the name ‘Go Hard Major’ while James is known as ‘H Matic,’ noticed that not only did the two major label artists allegedly copy their song, but they didn’t even change the name much.
They are relying on several principles in intellectual property law, including the argument that the chorus for the songs is “strikingly similar” and the words in the chorus are even “nearly identical.”
The melodic sequence between the songs is also identical, Payne and James claim.
Meanwhile, the men also singled out Big Sean, who is also from Detroit, as someone who might have known their work or come across it.
“The sale of thousands of physical copies of CDs featuring the Copyrighted Work on the streets of West Detroit and the parking lots of hip hop clubs in West Detroit frequented by [Big Sean] provide further access of the Copyrighted Work to Defendants,” the lawsuit claim.
“Upon release, the Infringing Work sold reportedly 100,500 units for the first week of its release. Since the debut, the Infringing Work has reportedly gone platinum, meaning more than one million copies have been sold.”
The plaintiffs claim that cease and desist letters were sent to both artists, but neither of the defendants has responded to them. The lawsuit did not state the amount in damages or remedies that the plaintiffs are seeking.
