Travis Scott, SZA, and Future have filed a motion to dismiss a copyright case over their song “Telekinesis,” claiming the song they are accused of ripping off was actually given to them, with permission, by Kanye West.
On Monday, June 14, lawyers for the three artists filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by gospel artist Victory Boyd. Boyd alleged back in January that Scott, SZA, and Future “intentionally and willfully copied” her 2019 song “Like the Way It Sounds” without her permission.
In Boyd’s own claim, she acknowledged that she shared “Like the Way It Sounds” with West and recorded a version of the track called “Ultrasounds” with Scott. While West’s version surfaced on SoundCloud about two years ago, it was never formally released. Scott eventually cut the song again with Future and SZA, ultimately releasing it as “Telekinesis” on his 2023 album Utopia. But at no point, Boyd claimed, did she sign off on this final version of the song.
In their motion to dismiss, however, lawyers for the trio claim they did not need Boyd’s permission because they already had it from West, who allegedly created the chords, beat, and melody for “Like the Way It Sounds.” The motion proclaims that the defendants’ “use, if any, of the LTWIS work was duly authorized by Mr. West, as a joint author of the LTWIS, having the right and authority to authorize such use.”
Furthermore, the motion casts doubt on the suit’s validity due to Boyd’s efforts to file a copyright registration for “Like the Way It Sounds” with the U.S. Copyright Office. They claim that when Boyd first filed for a registration in 2023, she made “knowing misstatements” claiming to be the “sole author and copyright owner” of the song, despite West’s contributions.
This, the motion argues, “renders the first copyright registration invalid.”
Furthermore, the motion alleges that Boyd tried to fix this issue in June and register just the song’s lyrics as a standalone work, like a poem. But, the lawyers argue, Boyd’s own amended complaint “indicates that the lyrics were intended to be part of a song that Boyd collaborated with Mr. West to create.”
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They add: “As a matter of law, lyrics cannot be copyrighted as a standalone work when created in tandem with, or as part of, an inseparable musical composition.”
In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, Boyd’s lawyer, Keith White, called the motion “an attempt to dismiss straight forward copyright and accounting claims as a delay tactic,” adding: “We will file opposition papers within the next two weeks, and we fully expect Travis Scott’s motion to be summarily denied in short order.”
