Drake and Chris Brown have asked a federal judge to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit against them, calling the claims “baseless.” The suit stems over the two superstars’ 2019 hit song, “No Guidance.”
Billboard reported on on Thursday (Jan. 13) that Chris and Drake asked the judge to dismiss the suit, which was filed by artists Brandon Cooper and Timothy Valentine last October. The pair claims Drake and Chris stole elements of their 2016 song “I Love Your Dress” for their Grammy-nominated collaboration.
Specifically, Cooper and Valentine claim the “No Guidance” hook, “You got it,” was taken from their song. However, Drake and Chris’ attorney rejected that argument, saying the phrase is too common to be copyrighted.
“Plaintiffs’ suit is premised upon the alleged similarity [to a] wholly generic lyrical phrase,” the attorney wrote, per court documents. “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 also alleged that “the beat, lyrics, hook, rhythmic structure, metrical placement and narrative context” of “No Guidance” was “derived” from “I Love Your Dress.”
Chris and Drake’s lawyer rejected that motion, too.
“The Court can hear for itself that the total concept and feel of the songs is vastly different,” they 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 attorney also argued that Cooper and Valentine couldn’t prove Drake and Chris had heard “I Love Your Dress” before making “No Guidance.”
Last month, a judge sided with Drizzy after he requested that a $4 million defamation suit against him be thrown out. The lawsuit was filed by Mesha Collins, a woman who attempted to break into his Los Angeles home in 2017.