Key Takeaways
- Pharrell asked the court to dismiss Chad Hugo’s amended copyright complaint, arguing that its “vague and ambiguous” claims prevent him from reasonably responding.
- Pharrell says Hugo failed to identify specific contributions despite citing nearly 50 recording sessions, later naming eight songs and “U Gotta” without explaining what he created.
- The motion argues that after years of dispute, three years of tolling, and three pleadings, Hugo still appears to have “no idea” which compositions or recordings he allegedly authored.
Pharrell Williams is asking the court to toss out the amended complaint filed by Chad Hugo in his copyright lawsuit, accusing his former collaborator of having “no idea” which songs he allegedly helped compose.
In a filing obtained by Complex, Pharrell argued through his attorney that Hugo did not make a single copyright claim about a specific song when the lawsuit was filed in Jan. 2026, even though he said that he lost revenue and was involved in nearly 50 recording sessions over a two-year span.
In another version of his suit, Hugo identified eight songs made between 2019-2021 on which he was denied proper credit and payment: Rosalía’s “Motomami” and “La Combi Versace,” Pharrell’s “Cash In Cash Out,” “Love Is Not Written,” “Pure,” Latto’s “Real One,” Nigo, ASAP Rocky, and Tyler, the Creator’s “Lost and Found;” and “Freestyle,” featuring Tyler the Creator. (He also claimed that there were additional, unnamed songs for which he was also owed).
But in the third and so far final version of the suit, Williams continues, those eight songs have all disappeared and the only track mentioned by name is Earthgang’s “U Gotta.” Williams addressed that track, arguing that his former collaborator does not explicitly state what element of the track he helped create.
“The [complaint] does not say whether Hugo claims that he wrote music, wrote lyrics, played an instrument, performed on the master, programmed sounds that were incorporated into the master, recorded the master, mixed the master, creatively edited or otherwise manipulated the master, or did something else entirely,” Williams’ motion reads.
Pharrell accused Hugo of being so “vague and ambiguous" regarding his copyright claims that the producer and Louis Vuitton men’s creative director cannot “reasonably prepare a response.”
Pharrell is requesting that Hugo’s suit be dismissed in its entirety, saying that Hugo has not been specific about whether he contributed to the songwriting, the performance, or both, of the songs at issue; and has continually changed up his examples.
“After years of dispute, three years of tolling, and three successive pleadings, those basic facts remain unidentified,” the motion reads. “In fact, as incomprehensible as it is, it appears that Hugo has no idea which compositions or sound recordings he supposedly authored – even though he claims to have been there, right by Defendants’ side, the whole time.”
