Nicki Minaj Sued for Copyright Infringement

Rapper Nicki Minaj and producer Mike Will Make It are accused of ripping off a lesser known artist for their hit single "I Lied..." 

From The NY Post

Nicki Minaj is being sued for copyright infringement for her 2014 song “I Lied” as another musician is accusing her of having “directly copied” his beat.

According to a lawsuit obtained by The Post, musician Julis Johnson filed the complaint Monday in California, claiming that Minaj and producer Mike Will Made It’s ballad sounds eerily similar to his song “onmysleeve.”

Johnson claims his song was published on YouTube in 2011 — three years before “I Lied” was included on Minaj’s album “The Pinkprint.”

In the docs, Johnson says his beat was included on a hard drive that was taken from a studio session without his consent in 2013 when he attended the Art Institute of Atlanta.

Johnson claims that “associates” or “affiliates” of Minaj, 40, and Mike Will, 34, also had access to the institute’s recording space around that time and allegedly got their hands on his hard drive.

The Post has contacted reps for Minaj, Mike Will and Johnson for comment.

The suit claims that both “onmysleeve” and “I Lied” “contain substantially identical underlying instrumentation and beat,” as well as “utilize at least the same style instrument bed, rhythm, beats per minute, and song key.”

Producers Ester Renay Dean and Skooly, as well as Universal Music Group and other record labels, are also named as defendants in the suit.

Johnson wants Minaj’s and Mike Will’s profits they earned from the song, as well as for a judge to order them to stop using it — or at least credit him on “I Lied” and the album.

The suit claims that “The Pinkprint” was “streamed 16.8 million times across all on-demand streaming services in the United States during its first week.”

The album was certified double platinum in February 2016.

Take a listen and see for yourself.