Chris Brown and Drake claim their inability to keep up with all "82 million songs on Spotify" and every songwriter purportedly asked to visit Drake's former homeland of Toronto is not due to "egotism."
The two are currently embroiled in a copyright battle against Braindon Cooper, who said it's egoistic of them to say it's impossible for them to know about his "I Love Your Dress."
In a blistering new filing in the ongoing copyright battle over the duo's 2019 hit single "No Guidance," lawyers representing the superstars' interests retaliate after plaintiff Braindon Cooper claimed last month that asserting the argueent that Brown and Drake "plausible" access to his 2016 song "I Love Your Dress" is "both egotistical and without any legal basis whatsoever."
According to the legal team of the two stars, it's not egoistical, it's only rational.
Brown and Drake previously argued for Cooper's lawsuit to be dismissed on several grounds. First, that his track is both a "obscure song" that they were unaware existed prior to writing "No Guidance."
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Second, Cooper cannot "exercise a monopoly" over "commonplace" elements such as the lyrical phrase "You got it," which appears in both songs.
A federal judge in Florida has not yet ruled on the lawsuit's dismissal petition filed last year.
"This is not a close call," the new filing from Brown's lawyer James G. Sammataro on behalf of the many defendants in the case reads. "Posting a song on the Internet - such that the song is 1 out of 82 million songs on Spotify or posted by one of Instagram's 1 billion users - and a one-time public performance do not constitute widespread dissemination as a matter of law," the lawyer added.
Cooper's assertion that he shared his music with a Canadian A&R executive known as Mic Tee in March 2019 and that Mic Tee "even requested a meeting in Toronto" is also debunked in the new filing.
Mic Tee previously worked for AMAG Collective, a management company affiliated with rapper Birdman's Cash Money Records, according to Cooper. Cooper speculates that the song he provided to Mic Tee may have made its way to Birdman and then to Brown, as both Birdman and Brown starred in Nick Cannon's 2020 film She Ball.
According to the legal camp, the plaintiffs make no allegation here that defendants are acquainted with Mic Tee. Furthermore, plaintiffs make no allegation that Mic Tee provided defendants with a copy of plaintiffs' song or that Mic Tee was involved in the composition of "No Guidance."
Plaintiff's assumption of access via Mic Tee is totally hypothetical, based on the new document acquired by Rolling Stone.
Additionally, "plaintiffs' assertion that Mic Tee suggested Cooper come to Toronto, Drake's 'native birthplace," is insufficient to imply access. Drake has been a resident of California, according to claimants, since 2014. In any case, there is no evidence that Cooper traveled to Toronto, and it is unreasonable to suppose that every musician in Toronto collaborates with and shares music with Drake, the new filing argues.
Cooper's attorneys did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone's Wednesday request for comment.
Cooper's lawyers said in a February filing that his side does not need to establish that defendants "really viewed or heard" Cooper's work, simply that they had a "reasonable chance" to do so.
Regardless of the arrogant assertion that well-known musicians such as Drake and Brown could not possibly have seen or heard plaintiffs' ostensibly 'obscure' work, the complaint cites facts establishing that defendants can be easily assumed to have the "reasonable" chance to do so, the petition adds.
Plaintiffs' factual accusations about 'access' are adequate to survive the motion [to dismiss], the petition further states. Cooper's legal team deemed that the court should let plaintiffs to conduct reasonable discovery on this issue. It remains to be seen how this legal battle will play out.
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