A copyright lawsuit against The Weeknd has reportedly reached a settlement before it ever went to trial.
Videos by American Songwriter
The Weeknd’s 2018 chart-topper “Call Out My Name” came under fire in 2021 when producers Suniel Fox and Henry Strange—born Neil Fox Parakh and Shyhi Henry Hsaio, respectively—filed a lawsuit against the artist, claiming the hit closely mimicked the vocal hooks and lead guitar part from their 2017 song “Vibeking.”
However, according to Billboard, an agreement was made between the two parties on Friday (March 17). Fox and Strange’s lawyer said they had “reached a settlement in principle of this action.” Terms of their agreement are unknown, and the deal is allegedly “still in the process of formalizing, executing, and consummating.”
When the copyright allegations came about three years after “Call Out My Name” spent 18 weeks on the Hot 100 chart, attorneys for Fox and Strange explained, “‘Vibeking’ and ‘Call Out My Name’ contain quantitatively and qualitatively similar material in their respective lead guitar and vocal hooks, including melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements distinctive to ‘Vibeking.’
“Both works are in a 6/8 meter that is less common in popular music,” the plaintiffs’ representatives continued in their argument. “Both works are played at a similar tempo. And both works use features of electronica, ambiance, pop, hip-hop, rock, and R&B to achieve a particularly atmospheric and melancholic sound.”
Fox and Strange claimed to have evidence of the infringement, saying alleged emails contained proof that The Weeknd had listened to their song. The pair explained they sent the track to the artist’s playback engineer. “I sent [The Weeknd] that track u made a while ago. He listened and liked it. But nothing ever happened,” the engineer allegedly replied.
The same engineer reportedly told the duo in another email, “Just gonna tell [The Weeknd] that our production team wrote the track. Cool? Or u have another idea? Just don’t wanna say, ‘Hey, [Strange] wrote this’ when he doesn’t know u.”
The Weeknd reportedly denied all allegations.
Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
