We’re only a week into 2025, and the first copyright infringement lawsuit of the year has already been filed in a New York court.
According to legal documents obtained by MBW, Travis Scott, SZA and Future are being sued by an artist signed to RocNation Victory Boydand her publishing company Songs of Glory for allegedly shutting down her song Like the way it sounds to create their success for 2023, Telekinesis.
Telekinesis has been streamed 413 million times only on Spotify. Released as part of Scott’s smash hit US No.1 album, Utopia (Cactus Jack/Epic Records/Sony Music).
Cactus Jack, Epic Records and Sony Music Entertainment are also named in the lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday (January 8). As you will read below, Scott’s business partner, a luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet (AP), is also named as the defendant.
In the complaint, Boyd claims she “wrote the lyrics, then completed and released a demo” titled “As It Sounds” in November 2019 and then shared a recording of the song with Kanye West via voice memo.
According to Boyd’s lawsuit, “upon information and belief,” Kanye West planned to release a song titled future bounce, renaming it twice Sounds of the future and after Supersonic. All versions of these renamed songs were supported to build on Boyd’s work.
But in 2021, when Kanye West released his album, Donda, did not release any of these different versions of the song using Boyd’s original work, which the court filing notes, “is copyrighted and deposited in the Library of Congress under record number SR 986-420.1.”
What happened next was this Kanye West reportedly played the song for Travis Scott. Boyd claims she dropped her song, As it sounds, “in a studio in Wyoming,” which Scott then gained access to “and began creating the Illegal Project out of the Original Project.”
Scott then reportedly shared Boyd’s song Sza and Future and “requested to work together to create” [Telekinesis] “copying” the original project they claim they agreed to in May 2023.
Telekinesis commercially released on July 28, 2023.
According to the lawsuit: “Upon information and belief, in 2023 Scott, Sza, Future and all Defendants knowingly and willfully copied Plaintiffs’ Original Work, specifically Plaintiff’s lyrics, when they commercially released the Infringing Work.”
The credit information page for Telekinesis on Spotify, which you can see below, lists Victory Boyd and Kanye West (aka You) among the co-writers on the track. West is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but a number of co-authors listed below are. You can read the entire lawsuit here.
Boyd alleges in the lawsuit that “when Defendants commercially released the Infringing Work” aka Telekinesis, “they believed [Boyd] as a co-author in the metadata provided on digital streaming platforms’, but that she was ‘unaware’ that her song had been ‘copied and commercially released’.
Boyd added in the lawsuit that she had in fact “planned to complete work on her original work and release it commercially through her record deal with RocNation.”
Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Boyd alleges that in November 2023, watchmaker AP“knowing that the Infringing Work was a copy of the Original Work”, he contacted her to obtain permission for commercial exploitation” Telekinesis as part of an advertising campaign.
Boyd claims she had “no communication from any of the other defendants regarding an agreement and without a license to use” the Original Work, she “refused to license AP.”
On December 1, 2023, Boyd explains, her publishing manager, Kobalt Publishing, under Boyd’s direction, “refused to license AP” because Scott and co were allegedly “never given permission” to use the song of her to create their own.
On December 1, 2023, a representative for Boyd reportedly “notified all defendants that [Boyd] objected to his scheduled broadcast Telekinesis.
On December 4, 2023, the defendants and AP cooperated to publish and commercially launch an advertising campaign using the allegedly infringing work despite Boyd’s objection.
“Plaintiff will suffer substantial and irreparable harm if Defendants are allowed to continue to infringe the Original Work pending the resolution of this lawsuit.”
Lawsuit filed by Victory Boyd
The lawsuit alleges that Scott’s Telekinesis”copies vary elements’ of Boyd’s song Like the way it sounds, “including but not limited to lyrics”.
These original lyrics, which appear in Telekinesis according to the lawsuit are as follows: “I can see the future looks like we’re leveling up in the sky, I can’t wait to live in glory in eternal life forever, you won’t take the wheel and I lie and sit still – I might as well turn now, Burst without warning, hear the trumpets, you do you like the way it sounds?’
According to the complaint: “The substantial, prominent and original aspects” of Boyd’s Like the way it sounds “are repeated in Illegal Project [Telekinesis] and constitute the dominant, prominent and only recognizable feature of the Illegal Project”.
Boyd’s lawyers also argue in the lawsuit that “the substantial, prominent and original aspects of Boyd’s song Like the way it sounds The originals “are not in dispute as the Defendants have recently attempted to credit the Plaintiff as an 8% contributor in writing to the Illegal Project [Telekinesis].
The lawsuit continues: “As a result, any copy of each of the various versions of the Infringing Work infringes the Original Work, as do any downloads, streams, or music videos thereof Telekinesis.”
Boyd’s lawsuit also alleges that “every time Scott, Sza, or Future played or play Telegenesis in concert, Defendants have infringed the copyright of Plaintiff’s Original Work.”
It adds: “To date, each of the defendants has reproduced, distributed, publicly performed and/or authorized the reproduction, distribution and public performance of the infringing composition and sound recording Telekinesis and each of the Defendants continues to infringe the Plaintiff’s Original Work.”
Boyd is requesting a jury trial and her attorneys argue that she is “entitled to a preliminary and permanent injunction pursuant to 17 USC § 502 enjoining and restraining Defendants from further infringing or transmitting Plaintiff’s Original Copyrighted Work ».
According to the complaint, Boyd “will suffer substantial and irreparable injury if Defendants are permitted to continue to infringe the Original Work pending the resolution of this action.”Music Business Worldwide