The suit claimed the chorus of the No. 1 hit copied an unpublished demo. The court filing gives no reason for the dismissal.
Producer Aviel Hirschfield has voluntarily dismissed his copyright lawsuit against rapper Drake over "Janice STFU", according to a court filing on Tuesday, October 27. Billboard obtained the filing. Complex says the court documents show the suit was dismissed "in its entirety without prejudice", and Billboard says that means Hirschfield could refile it.
The suit was filed on October 16 against Drake, OVO Sound and UMG. Hirschfield claimed the chorus was "literally identical" to his demo, "word-for-word, note-for-note, beat-by-beat, the exact same chorus." The case drew heavy attention in part because the song spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.
Hirschfield alleged that he began writing a Lykke Li-inspired chorus after hearing "I Follow Rivers", the 2011 song by Swedish singer Lykke Li, and that the chorus was later used, verbatim, on Drake's track. A recording leaked to X purported to be his demo, with a pitched-down vocal singing the chorus. A representative for the producer told Rolling Stone that "multiple experts" had examined the metadata Hirschfield provided and deemed it legitimate. Internet sleuths wondered whether the demo seemed suspicious.
Drake's reps wrote at the time: "Let us be absolutely clear: These allegations are categorically, unequivocally and completely denied." Drake's team described the suit as a "manufactured and baseless attempt to exploit Drake's name."
A Drake rep said earlier this month that the artist had no link to the producer:
"Drake wrote this song and has no connection or knowledge of this person, full stop."
Hirschfield's side stood by the claim. In an initial interview with Rolling Stone last week, a representative for Hirschfield said "The complaint speaks for itself," and that "This song was written specifically for Drake" using music provided to Hirschfield.
Rolling Stone describes Hirschfield as a 33-year-old Portland, Oregon, musician who calls himself a "studio manager, audio engineer, and music producer" on LinkedIn. Rolling Stone says his most high-profile moment before the suit was a co-writing credit on "Heated", a track on Beyoncé's 2022 album Renaissance. Spotify now lists him as one of 18 songwriters on that track, and Drake is also among the credited writers, a link the lawsuit leaned on heavily. Rolling Stone could not reach him directly for comment.
Rolling Stone reported that the producer withdrew the case days after the magazine sent follow-up questions to Hirschfield's attorney, and that it is not clear what happened in between. Complex reports that Hirschfield's lawyer declined to comment, and the court filings give no explanation for the withdrawal.
Complex reports that "Janice STFU" now sits at No. 24 on the Hot 100, after 23 total weeks on the chart.
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