The Weeknd settles copyright lawsuit over “Call Out My Name”

Monday 20 March 2023

 

In 2021, the Weeknd was sued for copyright infringement over his 2018 My Dear Melancholy, song “Call Out My Name.” Producers Suniel Fox and Henry Strange claimed the Weeknd and co-defendants Nicolás Jaar and Frank Dukes had infringed on their song “Vibeking.” The lawsuit claimed that the two songs were “strikingly and/or substantially similar, if not identical” and cited multiple alleged similarities.

On March 17, Fox and Strange’s attorneys filed in court that the two sides have reached a settlement. Pitchfork has reached out to the Weeknd’s representatives and the producers’ attorneys for comment.

When the lawsuit was first filed, Jaar clarified that he didn’t have a hand in the creation of “Call Out My Name”—just that the song featured an interpolation of his song from 2016’s Sirens, “Killing Time.”