A lawsuit claiming Pitbull’s 2021 dance hit “I Feel Good” was copied from a track created more than 15 years earlier will end in a settlement, according to new court filings
The case, filed last year by a company called All Surface Publishing, claimed that Pitbull’s song infringed the copyright to a 2006 song called “Samir’s Theme” by copying numerous elements, including some that “appear to be almost identical.”
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But in a court filing Friday (Aug. 29), a judge said the two sides had reached a deal to resolve their differences: “The parties have reached a settlement in principle,” the judge wrote, saying the case would be “discontinued” until a formal agreement was finalized.
The case didn’t name Pitbull personally as a defendant but instead targeted his record label, Mr. 305 Inc., as well as DJ White Shadow (Paul Edward Blair), who produced the track and was also featured on it as an artist, and Sony Music’s The Orchard.
Attorneys for both sides did not immediately return requests for comment or additional details on the terms of the agreement.
Released in 2021, “I Feel Good” reached No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and ultimately spent 27 weeks on the tally. But in a lawsuit last year, All Surface Publishing claimed the track was an “exact copy” of a “discernible portion” of “Samir’s Theme.”
The suit claimed the songs feature similarities in melody, harmony, melodic structure, tempo, musical arrangement and percussion — including a “three-note introductory phrase” in which notes descend down the musical scale: “When heard in real time, the descending lines of both songs appear to be almost identical,” the accusers claimed.
The lawsuit also alleged that the defendants had “access” to the earlier song, since All Surface owner Aaron LaCanfora sent “Samir’s Theme” directly to DJ White Shadow in 2011. “I love this song,” the DJ allegedly responded, according to the lawsuit.
Following the settlement, the two sides have until the end of the month to file a formal agreement or reopen the case.