Pharrell Williams has filed a motion to dismiss the copyright lawsuit brought against him by his former Neptunes collaborator Chad Hugo, arguing that Hugo has failed to identify which works or rights he is claiming, per hiphophero.com.
Hugo sued Williams in January, alleging unpaid royalties and a failure to credit him properly. His original complaint named the N.E.R.D. album No One Ever Really Dies but listed no specific songs.
Hugo later named eight other songs before removing all of them. He then cited “U Gotta” by EARTHGANG but, according to the motion, gave no detail on the rights he was claiming.
The motion states that the complaint does not say whether Hugo claims to have written music or lyrics, played an instrument, performed on the master, programmed sounds, recorded, mixed or edited it, “or did something else entirely”.
It adds: “After years of dispute, three years of tolling, and three successive pleadings, those basic facts remain unidentified.” The motion further claims it appears Hugo has “no idea” which compositions or sound recordings he authored, despite saying he was present throughout.
Hugo previously claimed he was owed $1 million from N.E.R.D. albums after an alleged “systematic denial” of royalties and rights.
His lawyer said at the time that Williams had engaged in self-dealing, concealed material information and diverted revenues owed to Hugo. The lawyer said such conduct warranted punitive damages.
He added that Hugo had been left with no choice but to seek compensation in court after “years of obfuscation” by Williams and his team.
- Featured image: Pharrell/hiphophero.com