Drake sued over the "Janice STFU" chorus

Aviel Calev Hirschfield, a Grammy-winning songwriter and producer who records as GoodbyeCalev, sued Drake in federal court in Los Angeles on October 16, claiming the chorus of "Janice STFU" is his. The suit names Drake, OVO Sound, UMG Recordings and Universal Music Publishing. FnZ, the producers he says he sent the demo to, are not named.

According to the complaint, Hirschfield took a beat from FnZ, Michael "Finatik" Mulé and Isaac "Zac" De Boni, and recorded vocals over it with Drake in mind, finishing the demo around January 25. He sent the demo to FnZ and other producers in Drake's circle. "Janice STFU" came out May 15 on ICEMAN, nearly four months later, produced by FnZ with b4u and Rogét Chahayed. Drake is its only credited artist, and Hirschfield is not credited on it.

Both versions are built on Lykke Li's "I Follow Rivers," and "Janice STFU" interpolates its chorus. Hirschfield claims the "Janice STFU" chorus matches his demo in lyrics, melody and cadence. The suit calls it "a literal, word-for-word, note-for-note taking" of his.

Drake's representative told TMZ the claims are "categorically, unequivocally, and completely denied," called the suit a "manufactured and baseless attempt" to use Drake's name, and said "Drake wrote this song and has no connection or knowledge of this person, full stop." The two are not strangers on paper: Hirschfield and Drake are both credited as co-writers on Beyoncé's "Heated," from Renaissance, the album that won Hirschfield his Grammy. Rolling Stone notes there is no evidence they ever met.

Hirschfield says his manager sent Drake's team the original stems with the metadata showing when the demo was made, and that Drake's lawyers answered with a cease-and-desist letter telling him to stop saying he wrote it, Music Business Worldwide reported. He is asking for damages, the profits tied to the song and legal fees. He is not asking for a songwriting credit or for the song to come down.

"Janice STFU" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed two weeks, Drake's first multi-week No. 1 since "In My Feelings" in 2018.

Complex has posted Hirschfield's demo, made public as evidence in the case. His chorus starts 45 seconds in.

None of this has been tested in court. Music Business Worldwide also noted that the demo's copyright registration took effect July 21, more than two months after the song came out. U.S. law generally rules out statutory damages and legal fees when the infringement started before registration.