Rapper French Montana Faces Copyright Lawsuit Over Unpaid Sample

French Montana is said to have sampled Skylar Gudasz’s song "Femme Fatale" on his track "Blue Chills" without paying royalties, reports Billboard. The lawsuit, filed by Skylar Gudasz’s publisher, alleges that the rapper had promised him initial fees, ongoing royalty payments and 50% of the publishing rights if he used the sample. Except that he would have released the song including the sample before finalizing the agreement. According to the lawsuit, "despite the defendants’ repeated promises...no signed agreement, no fees, no royalties, no license agreement or money has ever been sent to the plaintiff".

It all started with a meeting between Skylar Gudasz and French Montana in 2022 through a specialist licensing agent. The two men would have agreed that the American rapper of Moroccan origin would pay $7,000 upfront, in addition to the aforementioned royalties and publishing rights. Skylar Gudasz said she only knew the song during a French Montana interview on an episode of Rap Life Radio on Apple Music. During the interview, the "Yes I do" performer even shouted out Skyler Gudasz. Other defendants in this lawsuit: Harry Fraud, longtime producer of French Montana, and Sony Music Entertainment.

In 2017, French Montana had been accused by Moroccan beatmaker Yo Asel of plagiarizing a beat he created. The latter had sued the Federal Court of Manhattan to settle this dispute.