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Drake acting at Wi-fi Competition
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Key Takeaways:
- Drake’s authorized crew is requesting unredacted paperwork, together with Kendrick Lamar’s Interscope Data contract and Common Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge’s emails.
- The case alleges UMG supported “Not Like Us” to hurt Drake’s picture throughout contract negotiations.
- UMG is in search of dismissal, arguing the claims are baseless and legally unsupported.
Drake’s authorized crew is intensifying its discovery calls for within the ongoing lawsuit towards Common Music Group over the promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s hit diss observe “Not Like Us.” As reported by Billboard, his attorneys are actually in search of unredacted contractual particulars and direct communications from the corporate’s high govt.
Drake alleges UMG performed a central function in boosting the chart-topping Interscope Data single, which labeled him a “licensed pedophile” throughout his public feud with Lamar. Interscope, Lamar’s label, operates beneath UMG, as does Drake’s personal label, Republic Data.
In accordance with court docket filings submitted on Tuesday (Aug. 12) by lawyer Michael Gottlieb, UMG has refused to supply vital parts of the requested proof to this point. Chief among the many disputed gadgets is Lamar’s 22-page Interscope contract, which Drake’s legal professionals say was produced with heavy redactions that make it “nearly unreadable and incomprehensible.”
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Lucian Grange and Mustard, who produced Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” on the Grammy Awards
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Drake’s authorized crew can also be demanding emails and textual content messages from UMG CEO Lucian Grainge associated to “Not Like Us.” The corporate argued Grainge had “no significant involvement” within the track’s launch or promotion. Gottlieb contended that shielding the CEO from doc discovery is “unfair, unwarranted and inconsistent with basic rules of discovery,” citing Grainge’s alleged oversight of label competitors and his potential affect over the observe’s rollout.
The filings additionally counsel UMG had strategic motives, alleging the corporate sought to devalue Drake’s model to realize leverage forward of potential contract extension negotiations. Gottlieb asserted that reviewing Grainge’s communications would impose “minimal burden” on the corporate if its claims of his noninvolvement are correct.
Different proof sought contains Interscope’s monetary good points from “Not Like Us,” the valuation of Lamar’s catalog and compensation information for Interscope CEO John Janick. Drake’s crew is moreover requesting examples of UMG censoring probably defamatory content material, pointing to studies that Def Jam Recordings, one other UMG label, could have edited verses from Pusha T’s 2018 Drake diss, “The Story of Adidon.”
UMG has denied any wrongdoing and framed Drake’s lawsuit as an try and “save face” after dropping his lyrical battle with Lamar. The corporate is in search of to have the case dismissed completely, a movement at the moment into consideration by Choose Jeannette A. Vargas in New York federal court docket. A ruling may very well be issued within the coming days.