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Snoop Dogg Settles Copyright Lawsuit With Studio Vet.

Snoop Dogg has reached a settlement with studio musician and producer Trevor Lawrence Jr. who accused the rapper of failing to license two backing tracks on his 2022 album, BODR (Back On Death Row).

Last summer, well-known drummer and producer Lawrence, who has worked with artists like Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, and Kendrick Lamar, sued Snoop and his label, Death Row Records. His filing alleged that Snoop failed to clear backing tracks used in two songs on the album: “Get This D—k” and “Pop Pop.”

According to Lawrence’s original lawsuit, he created these two tracks “on spec,” giving them to Snoop in 2020 with which to “experiment” in the studio. However, Lawrence says he made clear that Snoop would still need to license the tracks if he wanted to use them in an album, yet Snoop released BODR two years later allegedly without a licensing agreement for the tracks’ use.

Lawrence claims Snoop didn’t get his permission before releasing both tracks that used the unlicensed material as NFTs (non-fungible tokens). This allegedly brought in millions of dollars in profits for Snoop.

Attorneys for Snoop Dogg denied any wrong doing, asserting the rapper engaged in a draft deal with Lawrence and paid him $20,000 as a “producer fee” before BODR was released. They further claimed that Lawrence cashed that $20,000 check, which effectively conceded that the terms proposed in the deal were acceptable.

According to Billboard, a settlement has officially been reached. Reportedly, this was done with the help of a mediator in April, though details of the settlement have not been revealed. Snoop and Lawrence filed a joint motion yesterday (June 24) to dismiss their litigation.

Frank Trechsel, an attorney for Lawrence, told the outlet that he is unable to discuss details of the deal. “Our client is happy to have resolved the dispute,” he added.

Before the two parties reached an agreement, the case was scheduled to go on trial in September in Los Angeles federal court.

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