Drake lost his legal battle with Universal Music Group the first time around. However, the Toronto rapper is not backing down. According to Billboard, he has officially filed his notice to appeal the judge's ruling in his lawsuit against the label.
His team shared plans to appeal the ruling this month, shortly after it was announced. “We intend to appeal today’s ruling," a spokesperson for the artist stated. "And we look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing it."
As for UMG, they quickly made it clear that they were pleased with the outcome. “From the outset, this suit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day," they said. "We’re pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
Drake UMG Lawsuit
Drake filed his lawsuit in January of this year. In it, he alleged that UMG artificially inflated the success of Kendrick Lamar's hit diss track, "Not Like Us." He alleged that as a result, the company the "false and malicious" narrative that he's an alleged predator.
In her ruling, Judge Jeannette Vargas argued that Kendrick's song lyrics can't be considered defamatory. According to her, they are unlikely to be perceived as truth by most listeners.
“The artists’ seven-track rap battle was a ‘war of words’ that was the subject of substantial media scrutiny and online discourse,” she wrote. “Although the accusation that plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable facts about plaintiff.”
