Cardi B may be gearing up for her new album Am I The Drama? this September, but she still has loose ends to tie regarding earlier releases. In the case of a copyright lawsuit against her over the single "Enough (Miami)," she's not backing down.
For those unaware, two Texas-based musicians, Sten Joddi and producer Kemikal956, accused the Bronx femcee of stealing the melody and bassline from their 2021 track "Greasy Frybread." Now, according to AllHipHop, Cardi's legal team and her record labels recently filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Atlantic Recording Corporation and Warner Music Group are now a part of this legal response. The whole group of defendants argue that the copyright lawsuit against Cardi B is worthless because Joddi and Kemikal never registered their track for copyright in the first place, thus barring legal action in Texas.
"It is black-letter law that a copyright registration is required to file a federal claim… The lack of a copyright registration therefore dooms these claims too because, as noted above, a registration is required before bringing any 'civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work,'" attorney W. Andrew Pequignot reportedly expressed in the defense's motion. We will see if responses from Sten Joddi (real name Joshua Frausto) and Keikal956 (Miguel Aguilar) emerge in the future, whether from them or their legal teams.
Cardi B Lawsuit
The plaintiffs originally sought a federal copyright case, but the lack of registration reportedly blocked that. Then, they reportedly moved to a common-law copyright pursuit. Cardi B's legal team argues that this is invalid due to federal law superseding state-level accusations in this field.
Elsewhere, the lawsuit also alleges defamation, misappropriation, and unfair competition. Still, Cardi's attorneys think all these accusations boil down to her allegedly stealing her music, and they pointed to federal law as a preemption to these allegations.
Other arguments include claims that Texas courts shouldn't oversee this, since she lives in New Jersey and the labels call Delaware and New York their home bases. The defense team accused the plaintiffs of changing their story and claims inconsistently, and thus seek full dismissal and no further amendments. We will see what the court's ruling will be.
