Lizzo has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over an unreleased song that sampled a track from the 1970s, according to a complaint filed on Tuesday in California. The lawsuit, brought by The GRC Trust, alleges that a snippet posted on social media in August used an uncleared sample of 'Win or Lose (We Tried)', a song composed by Sam Dees and owned by plaintiff Jimmy Ginn.
The clip, which satirised the media attention around an American Eagle advertisement starring Sydney Sweeney, included the line 'I got good jeans like I’m Sydney'. The lawsuit claims that Lizzo and her label, Atlantic Records, 'obtained profits they would not have realized but for their infringement' and that informal resolution attempts failed. They are seeking profits, damages and legal fees.
Lizzo’s representative responded, saying: 'We are surprised that The GRC Trust filed this lawsuit. To be clear, the song has never been commercially released or monetised.' The same trust also sued Kanye West in September over an alleged sample of another Dees-penned song, 'Always Keep Your Love (Just Out of My Reach)'.
This is not the first copyright dispute involving Lizzo. She previously faced a lawsuit over her hit 'Truth Hurts', which was largely dismissed. That song later saw Mina Lioness added as a co-writer after her tweet inspired the lyric 'I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% that bitch'.
