According to a recent report from The New York Times, the 2000s alt-rock band Yellowcard has quietly dropped its lawsuit against the estate of the late Chicago rapper Juice WRLD over his breakout hit “Lucid Dreams.” In October, the band filed suit against Juice for allegedly copying the melody of Yellowcard’s 2006 song “Holly Wood Died” without permission, asking for $15 million in damages.
However, before the case was even truly underway, Juice died of an accidental overdose at Chicago’s Midway Airport. While that might have been the end of it, the members of Yellowcard wanted to pursue the case despite his death, which prompted even more issues. In February, it was revealed that no manager had been appointed over Juice’s posthumous legal matters, leading a court to suspend the case 10 days later.
The Times now says, though, that new court documents were issued Monday to withdraw the case. Christine Lepera, a lawyer for Juice’s estate said there was no settlement and the credits of “Lucid Dreams” remain unchanged from when Sting was added and given 85% of the song’s royalties as it samples his hit “Shape Of My Heart.”
The credited reason for the band’s change of heart? Juice’s mother, Carmela Wallace, was finally officially appointed his legal representative a few weeks ago. Richard S. Busch, Yellowcard’s lawyer, said in a statement: My clients are very sympathetic not only of Juice WRLD’s death but also needed time to decide whether they really wanted to pursue the case against his grieving mother as the personal representative of his estate.” While Busch notes that the case can be refiled at a later date, between pitting themselves against Wallace and only having about 15% of available royalties, it might not be worth it.
Check out both songs, “Lucid Dreams” and “Holly Wood Died,” above.
