Some two years have passed since the Weeknd was sued for copyright infringement over his 2018 track “Call Out My Name,” and the superstar singer/songwriter has finally reached a settlement before the lawsuit went to trial.
In September of 2021, Suniel Fox and Henry Strange – aka electro duo Epikker – filed their lawsuit, alleging that “Call Out My Name” (from the Weeknd’s 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy) copied the vocal hook and lead guitar from their unreleased song “Vibeking” with the plaintiff’s lawyers stating:
“’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. Both works are played at a similar tempo. And both works use features of electronica, ambience, pop, hip-hop, rock, and R&B to achieve a particularly atmospheric and melancholic sound.”
According to Billboard reports, in addition to the similar-sounding songs, Epikker had physical evidence that proved the Weeknd had heard “Vibeking,” including emails between the duo and the Weeknd’s “playback engineer” confirming that the singer (born Abel Tesfaye) “listened and liked” their track.
According to the updated filing “The parties have reached a settlement in principle of this action.” “Because the parties are still in the process of formalizing, executing, and consummating that settlement, Plaintiff respectfully requests that the Court take all dates off calendar and set a date in 30 days for the parties to file a joint status report if the case has not already been dismissed.”
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Kayla Johnson