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Frank Ocean sues producer over Blonde songwriting credits
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 21 February 2018
Frank Ocean has sued record producer Om’Mas Keith in a dispute over who contributed to the songwriting on the 2016 album ‘Blonde’.
It seems that the producer, who also worked with Ocean on his debut album ‘Channel Orange’, has claimed co-writing credits on various songs that appeared on ‘Blonde’. This has mainly been done via the database of US collecting society ASCAP. He didn’t get any credits on the liner notes that accompanied the record.
In his legal filing, Ocean states that Keith was paid a set fee for his work on ‘Blonde’ and is not due any future royalties from his involvement in the record. Moreover, says the lawsuit, the producer did not “contribute any lyrics, melodies, or music that would give rise to any claim of authorship”.
The litigation aims to have Keith’s ‘Blonde’ songwriting credits removed from the ASCAP database and to secure an injunction preventing the producer from making any claim to co-ownership of the works in the future. In terms of money, Ocean seems to only want his legal costs covered.
A spokesperson for Ocean confirmed the litigation to Pitchfork, saying: “A complaint has been filed against Om’Mas Keith who has falsely stated to have written certain songs which appear on the album ‘Blonde’. These claims are untrue and this issue is being dealt with by litigators”.
