The battle between Rick Astley and Yung Gravy is over.
On Tuesday, Sept. 26, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, the “Never Gonna Give You Up” singer, 57, and the meme rapper, 27, settled the lawsuit Astley filed in January against Gravy (born Matthew Hauri) and his associates for an undisclosed amount.
Gravy filed a notice of settlement, while Astley filed a notice of dismissal of his copyright infringement lawsuit with an order to show cause, with a hearing set for Nov. 8.
The lawsuit, originally filed in January in Los Angeles, alleges that Gravy used a “deliberate and almost indistinguishable imitation” of his voice in his song “Betty (Get Money).”
The new lawsuit was filed by Richard Busch, the music litigator who won the copyright case over “Blurred Lines.”
Rick Astley sues rapper Yung Gravy for imitating his voice on hit single ‘Betty (Get Money)’
“The public could not tell the difference. The impersonation of Mr. Astley’s voice was so successful that the public believed it was actually Mr. Astley singing,” the lawsuit states, which also claims the singer’s voice was used “in an effort to capitalize of Mr. Astley’s immense popularity and goodwill.”
Also included in the lawsuit is a voice impersonator, Nick Seeley (aka Popnick).
“The license to use the original underlying musical composition does not permit the theft of the artist’s voice in the original recording,” Astley’s lawyers wrote. “So instead, they resorted to stealing Mr Astley’s voice without permission and without a deal.”
Rick Astley recreates the iconic ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ video, 35 years after its release
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Astley cited an August 2022 interview Gravy gave Board where the rapper said, “My boyfriend Nick, who does a lot of repeating samples and recreating the original samples, we basically redid the whole song. We had a different singer and instruments, but everything was really close because it’s easier legally.”
The filing also stated that Astley wanted to use his voice to collaborate with another artist on a future project, but the release of Gravy’s song made that impossible.
The lawsuit also explained that Astley’s distinctive voice is a resource that needs to be carefully managed, and he never gave permission for his voice to be used or imitated.
Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” topped the charts, while “Betty” (Get Money) reached gold status in the US
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education