Lizzo Sued Back by Songwriters Over ‘Truth Hurts’

The Raisens had raised many of their major arguments last year, on social media and in an interview with The New York Times, in which they described that songwriting session, from April 2017 — about five months before “Truth Hurts” was released. They posted audio clips comparing “Truth Hurts” with the original track they wrote with her, which was called “Healthy.”

But their countersuit, filed in Federal District Court in Los Angeles, has far more detail, including excerpts from what it says are Justin Raisen’s text exchanges with Lizzo and with her primary producer, Ricky Reed. According to screenshots submitted in the complaint, Reed reached out to Raisen when the song went to No. 1; seeming sympathetic to the Raisens’ claims, Reed said he wanted their dispute “resolved.”

A representative for Lizzo declined to comment. But in her suit last fall, she portrayed the Raisens and Yves Rothman, another writer who said he was denied credit on “Truth Hurts,” as having only “come out of the woodwork” once the song became a hit. “The men who now claim a piece of Truth Hurts,” she said on social media at the time, “did not help me write any part of the song.”

The case drew wide attention not only because it challenged the authorship of a smash hit — “Truth Hurts” was No. 1 for a total of seven weeks last year — but because it shined a light on the tense negotiations that often go on behind the scenes among artists, producers and writers to divide credit and royalties. Writers and their advocates often argue that while pop artists have many opportunities to exploit their fame, songwriters’ livelihood is almost entirely dependent on the percentages, or “splits,” that they get from contributing to hit songs.

Among the lawyers representing the Raisens is Lawrence Y. Iser, a noted copyright attorney who in 2010 represented David Byrne in a lawsuit against Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, who had used a Talking Heads song without permission in a Senate campaign ad.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/arts/music/lizzo-truth-hurts-lawsuit.html