Hip hop artist Post Malone reached an eleventh-hour settlement in a copyright case over the authorship of the 2019 hit song “Circles,” which was set for a jury trial in Los Angeles federal court this week.
US District Judge Otis Wright said in a Tuesday court filing that he was informed the parties have “reached a settlement in principle” and will file the proper dismissal documents.
The musician Tyler Armes claimed in the lawsuit filed in 2020 that he was a co-author of “Circles” and should be entitled to credit and royalties for the song, which topped the US Billboard Hot 100. He said he co-wrote the chords, bassline, and lead guitar line for what would eventually become “Circles.”
Malone, whose real name is Austin Richard Post, brought his own lawsuit against Armes in New York, asking a judge to declare that Armes wasn’t a co-author, before the parties agreed to combine the cases in California.
The case hinged on an all-night recording session between the two musicians in 2018, where Armes claimed that he created an eight-minute unpublished version of the song that would become “Circles.”
The judge ruled in April 2022 that only a jury could determine if Armes was the author of the unpublished song, which could entitle him to royalties because the commercial version of “Circles” is a derivative work of the original.
Lavely and Singer APC and Berk Brettler LLP represent Armes. Mitchell Silberberg and Knupp LLP represent Post.
The case is Armes v. Post, C.D. Cal., No. 2:20-cv-03212, settlement 3/21/23.
Source: Bloomberg https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/post-malone-reaches-settlement-before-circles-copyright-trial
