Canada’s The Weeknd has been hit with another plagiarism accusation.
In a lawsuit filed Sept. 17 in Los Angeles, Suniel Fox and Henry Strange – who make up music act Epikker – claim “Call Out My Name” from The Weeknd’s 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy copies their track “Vibeking.”
The duo allege the two works have the same time signature, similar tempos and almost identical melodies.
“Vibeking," described as an "atmospheric and melancholic" instrumental, was created in 2015, according to the lawsuit, and was one of several tracks they sent to one of The Weeknd’s engineers for consideration. They claim they were told The Weeknd heard the piece and described it as “fire.”
When “Call Out My Name” was released, it was credited to The Weeknd with fellow Canadian Frank Dukes (aka Adam Feeney) as well as Nicolás Jaar. They are named as co-defendants, along with the song’s publishers and Universal Music Group.
The Weeknd has faced accusations of copyright infringement before – over “The Hills” in 2015, “Pray for Me” in 2017 and “A Lonely Night” in 2018. Last year, the 2017 lawsuit was withdrawn by the plaintiffs and the 2018 case was dismissed (the plaintiffs are appealing).