Mike Tyson has settled a lawsuit claiming he illegally used the song “Murdergram” in an Instagram video promoting his November 2024 boxing match against Jake Paul, per a new report from Billboard. The deal, filed in court Monday (September 22), will close the case filed last month against the all-time great boxer by Tyrone Fyffe. Fyffe, the producer and co-writer of the 1998 track, alleged that Tyson engaged in copyright infringement by using the song in a training video ahead of the Paul fight
“Murdergram” was first recorded by Jay-Z, with DMX and Ja Rule featured, back in 1998. It appeared as part of the soundtrack to the film Streets Is Watching. Fyffe said in his suit that he owns a portion of the copyright. He also has producer and co-writer credits.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the latest court filings. However, it's a surprisingly quick turnaround considering that Fyffe only filed the suit six weeks ago.
Fyffe sued in August over a 33-second video Tyson posted to Instagram ahead of his fight with Jake Paul. The video allegedly showed Tyson training for the fight and visibly reciting the lyrics. Tyson deleted the post well before Fyffe's suit was filed. Because of that, it's currently difficult to tell what terms each party agreed to.
Mike Tyson VS. Jake Paul
Though TikTok, Instagram and other similar services allow users to use fully licensed songs for their videos, those are strictly for personal use. As such, they cannot be used for commercial videos. Commercial content requires a “synch” license, which is what is needed for televison ads.
Fyffe claimed that by using the song in the manner he did, Tyson's use of "Murdergram" was a commercial one. His suit also cited reports that Tyson made more than $20 million for the fight. “Neither plaintiff nor any of his representatives granted defendant Tyson permission to use the song title ‘Murdergram’ to promote his boxing match with Jake Paul,” the producer wrote in his lawsuit. Fyffe also argued that he was entitled to both royalties and a cut of Tyson’s profits from the fight.
With this suit behind him, Tyson can now look to the future. After fighting Jake Paul in 2024, he will be coming out of retirement once more for an exhibition match against Floyd Mayweather in 2026. He used "Murdergram" as his walkout song during the Paul fight. Unfortunately, that may not happen again after these latest developments.
