Yellowcard’s ongoing $15 million lawsuit against Juice WRLD has been put on hold
The rock band is still pursuing their alleged cut for “Lucid Dreams.”
Yellowcard’s $15 million lawsuit against Juice WRLD has reportedly been put on hold. According to court documents obtained by XXL on Wednesday (Feb. 12), the presiding judge has paused the proceedings until someone is appointed as the executor of the late rapper’s estate. The judge has reportedly offered a two-month deadline for an executor to be appointed.
“The action is stayed pending the appointment of a representative for the estate of Defendant [Juice WRLD] by the probate court,” the judge wrote in their decision. “The parties shall file a status report re: the probate proceedings no later than April 13, 2020.”
Yellowcard sued Juice back in October of 2019. The rock band accused the rapper of illegally sampling elements from their 2006 song “Holly Wood Died” for his 2017 smash hit “Lucid Dreams.” In their suit, Yellowcard demands over $15 million in damages, past and future royalties for the song and damages from Juice’s tours.
“As alleged in the complaint, this is not just a generic Emo Rap song, but is a blatant copy of significant original compositional elements of ‘Holly Wood Died’ in several respects,” the band’s lawyer Richard Busch told Digital Music News after the suit was filed.
Juice was legally bound to respond to the lawsuit on Dec. 9. However, the rapper tragically died on Dec. 8, just days after his 21st birthday. After his untimely passing, Yellowcard still continued to pursue the suit, although they did motion to extend his camp’s response due date, moving the deadline to Feb. 4.
Soon after, Busch told Digital Music News that Yellowcard was “still digesting the news” of the rapper’s death and claimed they had extended the response time out of respect.
Last month, Juice’s cause of death was revealed by Chicago’s Cook County Medical Examiner. According to the medical examiner’s office, a fatal mixture of oxycodone and codeine was found in the rapper’s system. He had reportedly swallowed several pills in an effort to hide them from authorities during a police raid on his private plane at the Chicago Midway Airport.