section_path: Controversies/Legal issues
section_name: Legal issues
paragraph_text: Legal issues
  
  In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on " Marvins Room ". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. Also in 2012, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on " Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2 ", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip-hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song " Who Do You Love? ". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year.
  
  In December 2021, Drake sued jeweller Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In December 2022, a lawsuit brought by rapper Angelou Skywalker, who alleged that Drake stole his song "Reach for Skies" to make " Way 2 Sexy ", was dismissed following "repeated misconduct" by Skywalker against prosecutors and US district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who presided over the case; Skywalker was accused of filing no less than 50 irrelevant motions and was handed a restraining order, preventing contact with Drake.
  
  In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense.
  
  In January 2019, Drake, Odell Beckham Jr., and Younes Bendjima were sued by a man named Bennett Sipes in regards to an alleged assault that occurred outside of a L.A. nightclub in 2018. Sipes claims he suffered "traumatic brain injury, as well as injuries to his back, neck, shoulders, etc." on March 24, 2018, when he was attacked by Bendjima, as well as members of Drake and Beckham's entourages in an alley near the nightclub and sought $250,000 in damages. The suit alleges Drake and Beckham followed their respective crews to the alley to watch Sipes get attacked. A video of the incident was recorded using the on-site surveillance system. The suit was eventually settled out of court. In 2019, Drake paid a $350,000 settlement to a woman who alleged that he sexually assaulted her. Drake denied the allegations.
  
  In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between " No Guidance " and their own song "I Love Your Dress", but Drake was dropped by Cooper and Valentine from the lawsuit in April 2022. Drake was handed another copyright lawsuit from Samuel Nicholas, citing infringement from Drake's " In My Feelings " and " Nice for What ". That November, he was named co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting " a riot and violence " at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, as a result.
  
  On July 14, 2022, Drake was detained by Swedish police, reportedly stemming from drugs present within a Stockholm nightclub. That November, Drake and 21 Savage were sued by Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, for using the Vogue name without permission to promote their collaborative album Her Loss; Drake and 21 Savage "voluntarily ceased" to a preliminary injunction to stop using Vogue trademarks to promote the album, and later reached a settlement with Condé Nast. In February 2023, Drake was ordered to appear for a deposition in the XXXTentacion murder trial after the defence team for Dedrick Williams—one of the three suspects—listed Drake as a potential witness, related to the purported feud between Drake and XXXTentacion; Drake was subpoenaed the month prior, and failed to show for his scheduled deposition date of January 27; the rescheduled deposition was set for February 24. It was later reported that armed guards at Drake's Beverly Hills home refused to accept the service of the deposition on February 14, which Drake's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, argued was not properly served in compliance with California law and done solely to "inject celebrity spectacle in a routine trial", ultimately leading to the deposition being dismissed.
  
  In November 2024, Drake initiated a legal petition against Universal Music Group (UMG), the parent company of Republic Records, with whom Drake has a recording contract, and Spotify, alleging they conspired to artificially inflate the number of streams of the diss track " Not Like Us " during Drake's feud with Kendrick Lamar earlier that year by implementing pay-to-play schemes, malicious bots, and other tactics. Drake withdrew the petition on January 14, 2025, and filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York a day later, alleging defamation against UMG for promoting "Not Like Us". In February, UMG filed to pause discovery until their motion to dismiss the case is heard on June 30. On April 3, judge Jeannette Vargas ordered for discovery to continue, resulting in access to contracts between UMG and Lamar, as well as salaries and incentive plans for senior record label staff going back to 2020, being handed over to Drake. On April 18, Drake expanded the lawsuit against UMG by also alleging defamation by Lamar's halftime performance of "Not Like Us" at Super Bowl LIX.
  
  In 2012, singer Ericka Lee filed a lawsuit against Drake for the usage of her voice on " Marvins Room ". Claiming to have provided the female vocals, Lee also alleged she was owed songwriting credits and royalties. Despite Drake's legal team countering by claiming that Lee simply requested a credit in the liner notes of the album, the matter was resolved in February 2013, with both parties agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. Also in 2012, Drake caused a nightclub in Oklahoma City to close down, due to his usage of marijuana and other illegal drugs being prevalent at the club. In 2014, Drake was sued for $300,000 for sampling "Jimmy Smith Rap", a 1982 single by jazz musician Jimmy Smith. The suit was filed by Smith's estate, who said Drake never asked for permission when sampling it for the intro on " Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2 ", claiming Smith himself would have disagreed as he disliked hip-hop. Drake would win the lawsuit in 2017, with federal judge William Pauley ruling the content used was transformative, and there was no liability for copyright infringement. Also in 2014, it emerged that Drake was sued by rapper Rappin' 4-Tay, claiming Drake misused his lyrics when collaborating with YG on the song " Who Do You Love? ". He sought $100,000 for mistreatment and artistic theft, which Drake paid to the rapper later that year.
  
  In December 2021, Drake sued jeweller Ori Vechler and his company Gemma LTD for incorrectly using his likeness in promotional material; he also sought to return three items he purchased. In December 2022, a lawsuit brought by rapper Angelou Skywalker, who alleged that Drake stole his song "Reach for Skies" to make " Way 2 Sexy ", was dismissed following "repeated misconduct" by Skywalker against prosecutors and US district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who presided over the case; Skywalker was accused of filing no less than 50 irrelevant motions and was handed a restraining order, preventing contact with Drake.
  
  In 2017, Drake was embroiled in another lawsuit, being sued by producer Detail (Noel Fisher) over an alleged assault in 2014. Fisher claimed Drake's bodyguard, Nessel "Chubbs" Beezer, punched him in the face and allegedly broke his jaw over musical and financial disputes. Fisher also said the injuries caused him to be hospitalized for days and had to undergo several surgeries, following which he sued for damages related to medical bills and physical and emotional suffering. The case, which was set to undergo trial in May 2018, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Elaine Lu after Fisher failed to show up for a final status conference. Lu ruled that Beezer solely acted in self-defense.
  
  In January 2019, Drake, Odell Beckham Jr., and Younes Bendjima were sued by a man named Bennett Sipes in regards to an alleged assault that occurred outside of a L.A. nightclub in 2018. Sipes claims he suffered "traumatic brain injury, as well as injuries to his back, neck, shoulders, etc." on March 24, 2018, when he was attacked by Bendjima, as well as members of Drake and Beckham's entourages in an alley near the nightclub and sought $250,000 in damages. The suit alleges Drake and Beckham followed their respective crews to the alley to watch Sipes get attacked. A video of the incident was recorded using the on-site surveillance system. The suit was eventually settled out of court. In 2019, Drake paid a $350,000 settlement to a woman who alleged that he sexually assaulted her. Drake denied the allegations.
  
  In October 2021, Drake and Chris Brown were sued by Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine for copyright infringement between " No Guidance " and their own song "I Love Your Dress", but Drake was dropped by Cooper and Valentine from the lawsuit in April 2022. Drake was handed another copyright lawsuit from Samuel Nicholas, citing infringement from Drake's " In My Feelings " and " Nice for What ". That November, he was named co-defendant with Travis Scott in a multi-claimant lawsuit for inciting " a riot and violence " at the Astroworld Festival, to which he released a statement; he reportedly delayed the release of "Splash Brothers", a collaboration with French Montana, as a result.
  
  On July 14, 2022, Drake was detained by Swedish police, reportedly stemming from drugs present within a Stockholm nightclub. That November, Drake and 21 Savage were sued by Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, for using the Vogue name without permission to promote their collaborative album Her Loss; Drake and 21 Savage "voluntarily ceased" to a preliminary injunction to stop using Vogue trademarks to promote the album, and later reached a settlement with Condé Nast. In February 2023, Drake was ordered to appear for a deposition in the XXXTentacion murder trial after the defence team for Dedrick Williams—one of the three suspects—listed Drake as a potential witness, related to the purported feud between Drake and XXXTentacion; Drake was subpoenaed the month prior, and failed to show for his scheduled deposition date of January 27; the rescheduled deposition was set for February 24. It was later reported that armed guards at Drake's Beverly Hills home refused to accept the service of the deposition on February 14, which Drake's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, argued was not properly served in compliance with California law and done solely to "inject celebrity spectacle in a routine trial", ultimately leading to the deposition being dismissed.
  
  In November 2024, Drake initiated a legal petition against Universal Music Group (UMG), the parent company of Republic Records, with whom Drake has a recording contract, and Spotify, alleging they conspired to artificially inflate the number of streams of the diss track " Not Like Us " during Drake's feud with Kendrick Lamar earlier that year by implementing pay-to-play schemes, malicious bots, and other tactics. Drake withdrew the petition on January 14, 2025, and filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York a day later, alleging defamation against UMG for promoting "Not Like Us". In February, UMG filed to pause discovery until their motion to dismiss the case is heard on June 30. On April 3, judge Jeannette Vargas ordered for discovery to continue, resulting in access to contracts between UMG and Lamar, as well as salaries and incentive plans for senior record label staff going back to 2020, being handed over to Drake. On April 18, Drake expanded the lawsuit against UMG by also alleging defamation by Lamar's halftime performance of "Not Like Us" at Super Bowl LIX.