A couple of months before the unexpected death of emo rapper Juice WRLD on December 8 2019, pop-punk legends Yellowcard sued the rapper over a melody of theirs he allegedly used, without credit, in his huge second single and breakout hit, ‘Lucid Dreams’.
The Floridian band alleged that Juice had lifted the melody of their 2006 track ‘Holly Wood Died’ without seeking a release from the band, and used it in his track, which saw him receive one of the most-streamed songs on Spotify ever.
If you haven’t heard the two tracks, cop a listen below and listen closely to the lead vocal melodies in the verses.
In October, the American band demanded a $22million (AUD) payout, as well as running royalties or shared ownership of Juice WRLD’s track, and claim they’re owed damages from all the opportunities that the single gave Juice.
But it’s come to light this week that, before Juice WRLD passed a few days after his 21st birthday he had not organised for his legal matters to be represented by anyone in case the worst happened – and now that it has, his estate has nobody to take care of his legal affairs and cannot be accessed for the current lawsuit.
Now, this makes things a little bit complicated. Because his estate has no legal representation, nobody can even look at the case let alone argue the late rapper’s case in court, leaving it up to the other defendants in the lawsuit case to respond before the March 3 deadline.
Yep, it’s not just Juice’s estate that’s being sued here – co-writer Taz Taylor as well as song’s publishing company, Juice’s record label, and that label’s parent company are all being slapped with the lawsuit from Yellowcard, and the case is essentially at a standstill until that response deadline.
The fact that Juice’s estate has no legal representation also apparently poses an issue for a full investigation to be conducted, because his estate legally can’t be accessed without a designated representative. Mark C. Humphrey, the lawyer hired by Juice’s co-writers, told AllHipHop that it’s actively impeding on the brewing legal battle.
“The Estate’s current inability to participate in this action creates a number of impediments to Defendants’ defense of this action,” he said.
“Including but not limited to their ability to conduct a factual investigation.”
From what’s been reported, Yellowcard have no plan to revoke the lawsuit, and Rolling Stone reported in December that the band was apparently “torn” about Juice’s death, but decided to proceed with the legal battle.
Whether this has the ability to be settled out of court is yet to be seen, but it could get very messy by the time March 3rd rolls around.
