Key Takeaways:
- The lawsuit claims Lizzo’s unreleased song sampled “Win or Lose (We Tried)” without permission.
- The snippets gained attention for referencing Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle “Great Jeans” advertisement.
- Lizzo’s team says the song was never released or monetized, but the GRC Trust is still seeking lost profits.
Lizzo is being sued over an unreleased song. The GRC Trust filed a copyright infringement suit against the rapper regarding her tentatively titled “I’m Goin’ In Till October,” which went incredibly viral after she referenced Sydney Sweeney’s “Great Jeans” advertisement for American Eagle.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ on Tuesday (Oct. 21), the company alleged that Lizzo used “both instrumental and vocal elements” from a song called “Win or Lose (We Tried),” which they hold the copyright for. The snippets in question were shared back in August, with one of the videos showing the four-time Grammy Award winner hosing down a red Porsche.
"No kizzy, he ain’t got no business being with me / Fat a**, pretty face with the titties / B**ch, I got good genes, like I'm Sydney," she rapped in the now-deleted video. The GRC Trust is reportedly seeking “damages and an injunction blocking the exploitation of its song.”
"We are surprised that the GRC Trust filed this lawsuit,” Lizzo's representatives told TMZ. “To be clear, the song has never been commercially released or monetized, and no decision has been made at this time regarding any future commercial release of the song."
While the lawsuit is unique solely for the fact that artists aren’t typically sued over unreleased songs, snippets alone aren’t necessarily exempt from copyright law. As Billboard noted, the “stakes would be lower” here since it’s difficult to prove that Lizzo made “substantial profits without actually selling the allegedly infringing song.” That’s likely even more true now that the “About Damn Time” hitmaker deleted the teaser clips from her social media.
Though it’s a shame the suit might keep “I’m Goin’ In Till October” from ever being released, Lizzo gave us tons of good music with June’s MY FACE HURTS FROM SMILING. The deluxe, which came several months later, introduced nine more songs of the flute-playing superstar rapping her heart out.