Not even two months before Juice WRLD's tragic and untimely death, Yellowcard hit him with a copyright infringement lawsuit. After he died, the band put the suit on hold as they were "digesting" the news, but quickly announced they had decided to move forward. This decision didn't rub people the right way, so the pop punk group's lawyer Richard Busch issued a statement to Billboard defending the decision.
"First of all, we were as shocked and saddened by Juice WRLD’s death as everyone else. It is a tragic loss to his family, his fans, and to the music world at large, and we understand why people may be confused about the decision to continue with this lawsuit," he said. "My clients are certainly torn about proceeding, and understand the optics involved. But it is important to remember that this lawsuit was filed before this tragic event, and was filed because all of the defendants (and there are 2 other writers and several music publishers and record labels), profited off of what we believe was clear copying and infringement of Yellowcard’s work. We have an expert report making that clear."
"So while they are absolutely aware of how this may be perceived, and truly have incredible mixed emotions, the question is whether it is fair that all of those many parties profited, and will continue to profit, off of what my client’s believe strongly was their work," he continued. "We should also mention that it has been falsely reported that Yellowcard is demanding a specific amount of damages. They are simply seeking what the law allows, and what parties in their position have sought in similar cases, which at this point is not determined."
Initial reports stated that Yellowcard was seeking $15 million in damages, claiming that Juice WRLD's hit "Lucid Dreams" clearly ripped off their 2006 track "Holly Wood Died."
“This was not a lawsuit the guys wanted to file. They put all of the parties on notice to try to resolve it. That notice was pretty much ignored leaving them with no real choice," Busch said in a statement following the initial filing. "As alleged in the complaint, this is not just a generic emo rap song, but is a blatant copy of significant original compositional elements of ‘Holly Wood Died’ in several respects.”
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