Judge Moreno Says Lawsuit Against Usher Can Proceed!

 Judge Moreno has denied a motion to dismiss on this interesting claim:

Davis now alleges that Khaled delivered a copy of "Let's Go'' to Jackson and Harr thus giving them access to "5-15-09.'' Moreover, Davis claims that the Court can infer Defendants' access to "5-15-09'' from the extensive play of "Let's Go'' on 99 Jamz as well as the song's popularity in Miami nightclubs.  From this access, Davis asserts that Defendants incorporated "5-15-09'' without authorization into their own derivative work. Specifically, Davis maintains that Defendants created a musical work entitled "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)'' that is based upon and strikingly similar to his original "5-15-09'' composition. Defendant Raymond then recorded his vocals over the alleged infringing work and included the song on his album "Raymond v. Raymond.'' The song was released in December 2009 and was sold as the first U.S. single for the album, peaking at number twenty four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

On July 13, 2012, Davis brought this action against Defendants for copyright infringement of his original "5-15-09'' composition.  As the sole author of "5-15-09,'' Davis claims that Defendants' unauthorized use of the composition violated his rights as the copyright owner.

Local counsel for Usher is GrayRob's Karen Stetson (he also has big-city NY counsel too).