French Montana has faced many lawsuits over the course of his career, but his latest may be his most costly yet.
According to Billboard, the COKE Boys head honcho’s song “Blue Chills” allegedly sampled Gudasz’s song “Femme Fatal” without properly compensating her.
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It’s claimed that Montana promised Gudasz upfront fees, ongoing royalty payments, and 50 percent of the publishing copyright if he used the sample, but then went ahead and dropped the song with the sample before finalizing the deal.
“Despite repeated promises from defendants …. no signed agreement, fees, royalties, licensing agreements or monies have ever been sent to plaintiff,” the lawsuit reads.
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Gudasz reportedly met the “Mopstick” rapper back in 2022 through an agent who specializes in these types of licensing deals, and the pair are said to have agreed that Montana would pay $7000 up front in addition to the previously mentioned royalty splits and publishing copyrights.
What’s more, Gudasz claimed she didn’t even know about the song until she heard it in an episode of Rap Life Radio on Apple Music — and French Montana even shouted out Skyler Gudasz in the interview.
The lawsuit also named Montana’s longtime producer, Harry Fraud, and Sony Music Entertainment as defendants.
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On a more positive note, French Montana scored a partial victory back in April in a lawsuit tied to his 2013 hit “Ain’t Worried About Nothin’.”
HipHopDX obtained a copy of the 29-page ruling by Judge Nancy L. Maldonado of the Northern District of Illinois — Eastern Division, which is dated March 30, 2023.
In the judgment, Maldonado ruled that the rapper (real name Karim Kharbouch) was granted what’s known as a summary motion to three of his five issues against producer Eddie Lee Richardson.
Richardson, who sued the “Lockjaw” rapper in 2019 for copying his copyrighted instrumental song, “Hood Pushin’ Weight,” already had conceded three of the five points in the lawsuit, making it easy for Maldonado to rule in French’s favor.
However, Maldonado denied French Montana’s request to rule that “any infringement was innocent or not willful.”
Richardson also claimed, in the lawsuit, that French Montana added the lyrics to the song, “Ain’t Worried About Nothin’,” and added remixes with other artists — including Wiz Khalifa, T.I., Lil Wayne, and Miley Cyrus — without Richardson’s expressed permission.
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Richardson also claimed that the Moroccan-American rapper had been distributing the song on Apple Music since 2013.
However, in her ruling, Judge Maldonado stated that Richardson’s claim for damages stemmed not from the recording of “Ain’t Worried About Nothin’” itself, but from the 378 live performances of the song since April 2016 — and this crucial error is what caused her to deny the producer’s motion.
