NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – New York (NY) rapper D.Chamberz (legal name Duval Chamberlain), alongside his producer and engineer, Kass (legal name Kenley Carmenate), has filed a lawsuit against emerging rap star and Taylor Swift collaborator Ice Spice, (legal name Isis Naija Gaston) alleging her hit “In Ha Mood” copied their track “In That Mood.”
Other defendants named in the lawsuit are producer Ephrem Lopez, Capitol Records, parent company Universal Music Group (UMG), Dolo Entertainment (named “primary copyright claimant” in the suit), and label 10K Projects, founded by Elliot Grainge.
Chamberz, a longtime player in the NYC rap and hip-hop scene, and Kass filed a complaint with the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday (January 17) alleging “In Ha Mood” is a “derivative work, without license or other consent,” of their song. You can listen to Ice Spice’s song above.
“By every method of analysis, “In Ha Mood” is a forgery – copied from [D.Chamberz and Kass], who wrote, performed, recorded, and produced their original song, “In That Mood,”… approximately 18 months before “In Ha Mood” made its debut,” states the complaint.
“Defendants have unlawfully exploited “In That Mood,” and they have – with actual knowledge and fraudulent intent – infringed upon, and continue to infringe upon, plaintiffs’… copyrights for “In That Mood,” causing serious and significant injury.” “In That Mood” can be heard below.
“In Ha Mood” has been certified GOLD by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with a minimum of 500,000 sales, over 45M YouTube views, and almost 169M Spotify streams. Ice Spice is up for four Grammy awards (Best New Artist, Best Rap Song (“Barbie World”), Best Song Written For Visual Media “(Barbie World”), and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Karma” with Swift. The live telecast is set to take place in February.
The plaintiffs are seeking 50% of “all direct and indirect royalties, revenues, and/or other economic benefits generated by the creation and subsequent commercial exploitation of “In Ha Mood” to date.”
