by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton
The lawsuit targets a song snippet Lizzo shared online.
Lizzo is being sued for copyright infringement over an unreleased song that references the American Eagle advertisement featuring actress Sydney Sweeney.
The song was “leaked” on social media over the summer with a snippet on Lizzo’s TikTok and Instagram pages. It gained a lot of attention due to Lizzo mentioning Sweeney’s name and the actress’ controversial commercial.
The American Eagle commercial had people up in arms because it stated that the blonde, buxom Sweeney (the popular star of The White Lotus and Anyone But You) has “good jeans,” with many interpreting it as a play on white supremacy, instead of her looks or “good genes.”
In the song, Lizzo rapped, “I got good jeans like I’m Sydney.”
Yet attorneys for GRC Trust are claiming lost profits. According to the suit, GRC Trust states that Lizzo “obtained profits they would not have realized but for their infringement” of the song.
They say that they “attempted informal resolution of the dispute” with Lizzo’s representatives, “but reached an impasse, necessitating the filing of this case.”
“We are surprised that the GRC Trust filed this lawsuit,” a representative for Lizzo said, according to the BBC. “To be clear, the song has never been commercially released or monetized, and no decision has been made at this time regarding any future commercial release of the song.”
GRC Trust does not want the song further distributed and is seeking an injunction to block it. It is also requesting a financial settlement that is equal to “all [of the] defendants’ profits, plus all GRC’s losses.”
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Source: Black Enterprise
