Colombian artist Feid - also known as Ferxxo - and his label Universal Music have been sued for copyright infringement by a producer who claims that his guitar loops were used in three tracks without proper credit and compensation. That includes ‘Ferxxo 100’, the third single on Feid’s 2022 album, the somewhat ironically named - given the copyright dispute - ‘Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo Te Pirateamos El Álbum’ or ‘Happy Birthday Ferxxo We Pirated Your Album’.
The producer, Sébastien Graux, says that his guitar loops have previously been used in tracks by the likes of Ricky Martin, Rema, NBA YoungBoy and Booba. His lawsuit explains how he met with the team at Columbia-based Icon Music during a trip to the country in 2021. They then introduced him to a producer called Jowan, who Graux subsequently met in Miami, where he shared several audio files containing his loops.
Jowan was a producer on ‘Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo Te Pirateamos El Álbum’ and, following their meeting, Graux was told that his loops would be used on three tracks on Feid’s then upcoming album. He says that he was “ecstatic at the opportunity” to feature on Feid’s next record, and that he “looked forward to receiving a producer credit for his contributions” to the three songs: ‘Ferxxo 100’, ‘X20X’ and ‘De Tanto Chimbiar’.
However, “despite months of reassurances from Jowan and others associated with defendants that Graux would be credited and compensated appropriately for his contributions”, no such credit or compensation has occurred since the album’s release in September 2022.
He suspects that the “false reassurances” provided in 2022 “were merely guises to ensure that Graux did not upset the release schedule for the songs and so that defendants could avoid their obligations with regard to Graux’s copyrighted contributions to these hit songs”.
The lawsuit says that Graux has been attempting to settle this dispute ever since, but without success. This is why he is now suing. Icon Music and Jowan are also listed as defendants alongside Feid and Universal.