Travis Scott has been accused of stealing the melody in "Highest in the Room."
Billboard reports songwriters Olivier Bassil, Lukas Benjamin Leth, and Benjamin Lasnier filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Scott as well as the authors and producers credited on the record. The plaintiffs claim they created a song called "Cartier" in 2019 and sent it to more than 100 producers, including hit-maker Jamie Lepr, aka Cash Passion.
The complaint claims Lepr—who is credited on "Highest in the Room," along with Oz (Ozan Yildirim), Nik D (Nik Dejan Frascona), Mike Dean, and Sean Solymar—was in communication with the plaintiffs about possibly licensing their work. The plaintiffs allegedly sent Lepr some of their material, including "Cartier," which featured a distinct guitar melody that was similar to the one heard in "Highest in the Room."
The suit claims the defendants were "pretending to be interested in a collaboration," only to "intentionally [break] the rules by exploiting plaintiffs' work without consent or a license, masquerading as if plaintiff’s music is their own."
A source close to Scott told TMZ that the legal dispute had nothing to do with him and was strictly between the producers; however, Cactus Jack Records, Grand Hustle LLC, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Papa George Music, and These Are Songs of Pulse are also named in the complaint.
"Everything we basically have to say is set forth in the Complaint," the plaintiffs' attorney Richard Busch said to Billboard. "I will just add that our clients are very successful songwriters/producers who, as set forth in the Complaint, and is common practice, corresponded with the defendant writers with an eye toward licensing their work through a collaboration. They never expected that this would end up in a lawsuit but felt they had no choice but to take this action under these circumstances."
Bassil, Leth, and Lasnier are seeking damages as well as their cut of the royalties for "Highest in the Room." They claim the song, which debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, has generated at least $20 million.
