Juice WRLD has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over his breakout hit “Lucid Dreams” by the now-disbanded punk rock band, Yellowcard. According to The Blast, band members Ryan Key, Peter Mosley, Longineu Parson and Sean Wellman-Mackin filed a complain in California on Monday (Oct. 21), claiming that Juice WRLD stole “melodic elements” from their 2006 song “Holly Wood Died.” The band is suing Juice for $15 million in damages and want shared ownership over the song, along with damages collected from Juice WRLD’s tours.
The band’s suit claims that “the Infringing Work and Infringing Sound Recording peaked at No. 2 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song was on the chart for 46 weeks. The Infringing Work and Infringing Sound Recording peaked at No. 1 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song was on the chart for 34 weeks. The Infringing Work and Infringing Sound Recording peaked at No. 1 on Billboard Rhythmic Songs. The song was on the chart for 28 weeks.”
Furthermore, Yellowcard also pointed out at that Juice WLRD’s music video for “Lucid Dreams” has garnered almost 400 million views on YouTube and over 939 million streams on Spotify.
“This was not a lawsuit the guys wanted to file,” Yellowcard’s attorney, Richard Busch, said in a statement released to Billboard. “They put all of the parties on notice a long while ago and gave them every opportunity to try to resolve it. That notice was pretty much ignored leaving them with no real choice. As alleged in the Complaint, this is not just a generic Emo Rap song, but is a blatant copy of significant original compositional elements of ‘Holly Wood Died’ in several respects. Beyond that, everything we have to say is in the Complaint.”
Also named in the lawsuit are “Lucid Dreams” co-writer Taz Taylor, producer Nicholas Mira, publisher BMG Rights Management, record label Grade A Productions and Interscope Records. The suit also cites an interview in which Juice WRLD credits Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree as an influence on his music. The 2005 album was produced by Neil Avron, who also produced Yellowcard’s “Holly Wood Died.”
Juice WRLD released “Lucid Dreams” on his SoundCloud on June 15, 2017. The following year, the single appeared on his debut album, Goodbye & Good Riddance, which debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 200 and was certified platinum in December of 2018.