The complaint says the chorus is literally identical to his demo, and Drake's team calls the claims entirely fabricated.
Songwriter Aviel Calev Hirschfield has filed a copyright lawsuit against Drake, claiming the chorus of Janice STFU, a track from Iceman, is taken from a demo he says he sent around the rapper's camp. The complaint was filed on Friday, October 16, and was first obtained and reported by Billboard.
The complaint also names Drake's company OVO Sound and Universal Music Group. It says Hirschfield wrote the chorus between December 2025 and January 2026 over an instrumental from FNZ, the production duo of Michael Mulé and Isaac De Boni. The demo interpolates Lykke Li's 2011 song I Follow Rivers, and Hirschfield finished the recording on or about January 25.
Hirschfield says he sent the finished demo to FNZ and other producers in Drake's circle and heard nothing back. Hirschfield's first encounter with Janice STFU came in May, the month Iceman was released. The complaint reads: "Fifteen seconds in, Avi was stunned to hear Drake perform word-for-word, note-for-note, beat-by-beat, the exact same chorus that he (Avi) had recorded and sent." It alleges the two choruses are "literally identical" in lyrics, melody, and cadence.
Credited to FNZ as co-writers, Janice STFU also interpolates I Follow Rivers, but Hirschfield is not named on the song. After its release he asked for a co-writer credit and publishing splits. The complaint says Drake's lawyers "shamelessly refuse to acknowledge Avi's authorship" and maintain that Drake wrote the chorus alone, even after Hirschfield gave them his stems and metadata.
The dispute has turned on that metadata. According to the complaint, Drake's side has argued that Hirschfield manipulated the metadata in his recording files so his work would appear to predate Janice STFU, and has sent him a cease-and-desist letter demanding he stop publicly claiming authorship. "Such a deception would constitute career suicide by Avi," the complaint says.
Drake's team denied the claims in a statement to Billboard: "These allegations are categorically, unequivocally and completely denied." It called the suit a manufactured and baseless attempt to exploit Drake's name, reputation and success.
Drake's team put it most bluntly:
"Drake wrote this song and has no connection or knowledge of this person, full stop."
Hirschfield is seeking disgorgement of profits, actual or enhanced statutory damages, interest and attorneys' fees, along with a cut of the profits from the song.
The song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent two weeks there, and it logged 20 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Rap Songs. A federal court in California's Central District received the complaint.
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