The former members of Yellowcard have dropped their copyright lawsuit against the late Juice WRLD.
The now-defunct rock band sued the rapper last October – two months before his death from an accidental drug overdose – alleging that he ripped off “melodic elements” from its 2006 song “Holly Wood Died” for his 2018 hit “Lucid Dreams.”
The lawsuit claimed Juice WRLD’s track is not only “substantially similar to [‘Holly Wood Died’], but in some places virtually identical.”
Yellowcard’s William Ryan Key, Peter Michael Mosely, Longineu Warren Parsons and Sean Michael Wellman-Mackin were seeking more than $15 million USD in damages as well as a “running royalty and/or ownership share” of “Lucid Dreams” and a cut of the revenue from Juice WRLD’s tours, which they alleged stemmed from the “overwhelming success” of “Lucid Dreams.”
Juice WRLD’s lawyers said the lawsuit was without merit.
The case was put on hold when Juice WRLD died until his estate named an executor, which turned out to be his mother Carmela Wallace.
A lawyer for Yellowcard said in a statement the band decided not to pursue the lawsuit against the rap star’s “grieving mother.” The case was dismissed without prejudice, which allows the plaintiffs to re-file it.