The gospel singer bringing a copyright infringement lawsuit against Travis Scott, SZA and Future is disputing that Ye (formerly Kanye West) was a co-writer on the demo that ultimately became the 2023 hit “Telekinesis” — hitting back at the trio’s assertion that Ye had granted them permission to use the track.
Victory Boyd made the argument in a Monday (July 28) court filing in her lawsuit over Scott’s song “Telekinesis,” which featured SZA and Future and peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track was adapted from an unreleased Ye recording called “Like the Way It Sounds,” which Boyd claims she wrote for the rapper while they were collaborating on his album Jesus Is King.
Scott, SZA and Future argued in a motion to dismiss Boyd’s claims earlier this month that they got express permission to use “Like the Way It Sounds” from Ye, who they say wrote the demo’s chords, beat and melody.
But Boyd maintains on Monday that she’s the only author of “Like the Way It Sounds.” The response filing argues that Scott, SZA and Future have taken “creative license” with her lawsuit, which was “straightforward and succinct in asserting plaintiff’s sole creation of the original work.”
Boyd’s attorney, Keith White, notes that at the motion to dismiss phase of litigation, a judge must take the facts asserted in a complaint as true. If there’s a question about whether Ye is a co-writer, argues White, evidence needs to be collected and analyzed to determine the truth.
“The [complaint] alleges, in detail, that Boyd is the sole author of the original work and that the registrations were properly obtained,” writes White. “Any contrary assertions by defendants must be resolved on a developed factual record, not on a motion to dismiss.”
Ed McPherson, an attorney representing Scott, SZA and Future, strongly denies that Boyd was the sole author of “Like the Way It Sounds” in a comment to Billboard on Monday.
“Well, I’m sure that will be news to Kanye, who has been receiving publishing royalties on this song since its inception!” McPherson says of “Telekinesis.”
McPherson points to language in Boyd’s own complaint, where she wrote that Ye provided her “with some chords and melodies that he liked.”
“That sounds to me like Kanye gave her the music,” adds McPherson. “In fact, the copyright registration that she filed actually confirms that the only part of the song that she wrote was (at least some of) the ‘lyrics!’ Who is she trying to fool?!”
A rep for Ye did not return a request for comment on the matter.
