It's been over two years since the release of Doja Cat's song "Paint The Town Red." Still, however, legal issues related to the Dionne Warwick-sampling hit persist. Earlier this week, for example, Artist Rights Enforcement Corp filed a lawsuit against the R&B icon. They accuse her of trying to back out of a 50% royalty split agreement, per Billboard, which allegedly entitles them to a large sum of money.
In the lawsuit, the company alleges that it has represented Warwick since 2002, “at great effort and expense." Reportedly, Artist Rights Enforcement Corp negotiated the deal for the sample of "Walk On By" used in Doja Cat's song.
“After decades of service, Ms. Warwick is now trying to evade paying Artists Rights hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars,” the lawsuit alleges. “In doing so, she has violated her contracts with Artists Rights.”
Dionne Warwick Reacts To "Paint The Town Red"
Artist Rights Enforcement is seeking damages and wants Warwick to honor their previously agreed-upon royalty deal. Doja Cat has not been named a defendant in the case. At the time of writing, Warwick has yet to publicly respond to the lawsuit.
Following the release of "Paint The Town Red," Warwick took to Instagram to give Doja a shout-out, making it clear that she took her decision to sample her as a compliment.
"I wanted to say, I think it's wonderful that these youngsters who are recording today had decided to listen to some really good stuff of the old folks," the Grammy-winner said of Doja Cat at the time. "Those that been recording for well over 20, 30, 40, 50 years and making decisions that good music plays a very important part. So I'm thrilled that you're discovering us, that you're keeping us alive."
