Photo Credit: Nelly by Adam Bielawski / CC by 3.0
The last St. Lunatics member who was still suing Nelly for copyright infringement has dropped his lawsuit. But this battle may not be over yet.
St. Lunatics member Ali Jones has dropped the lawsuit the group filed against former member Nelly last year. The filing claimed the group never received proper credit or royalties for Nelly’s 2000 album, Country Grammar. The rest of the group — Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, and City Spud — all dropped out of the suit shortly after it was filed last year, claiming they never authorized legal action to be taken on their behalf.
Strangely, Jones and his legal team have not provided an explanation for their decision to dismiss the case. But they might not be walking away without consequence; Nelly’s legal team has urged the presiding judge to consider delaying the dismissal to hold the St. Lunatics members accountable for the rapper’s legal fees.
“Plaintiff’s counsel succeeded in its frivolous campaign aimed at forcing [Nelly] to spend money defending Plaintiff’s ridiculous time-barred claims,” wrote attorneys for Nelly. “The Court is respectfully requested to retain jurisdiction and set a briefing and hearing schedule [for potential sanctions].”
St. Lunatics, a group of high school friends from St. Louis, are credited with both performing and songwriting across Nelly’s debut album. But their lawsuit claimed the final credits undersold their contributions to the record, depriving them of royalties.
“Despite repeatedly promising plaintiffs that they would receive full recognition and credit […] it eventually became clear that defendant Haynes had no intention of providing the plaintiffs with any such credit or recognition,” their filing read.
The case was framed as a copyright infringement lawsuit, rather than a legal battle over ownership. This is due to the three-year statute of limitations that was far exceeded, given that Country Grammar was released nearly 25 years ago.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.