The publishing company founded by the controversial music producer Dr. Luke is suing the prolific trap producer Darrel Jackson — also known as “Chopsquad DJ” — for trying to back out of a deal to sell the publisher the licensing rights to a portion of his musical catalogue.
Amigo Publishing, the label and music licensing company that Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald founded, has accused Jackson, a producer for chart-topping rap stars like Chief Keef, Lil Durk and Fetty Wap, of using an allegedly false and inflated licensing offer from another music publisher to try and get out his contract.
“Amigo is a music publisher that has dutifully collected and paid millions of dollars to its songwriter Jackson, exceeding his wildest dreams of success…” wrote Amigo’s attorney Jeffrey M. Movit in a complaint filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. “Instead of doing the right thing, Jackson consistently tries to rip off Amigo at every turn through gamesmanship, collusion, and other scam tactics.”
Gottwald is no stranger to legal disputes with artists. The producer and record executive was involved in a years-long legal battle with pop singer Kesha over her recording contract and allegations of sexual abuse, which they settled in 2023.
After rising in the ranks of underground trap and drill rap in the mid-2010s, Jackson made an agreement with Amigo Publishing to handle his music licensing and royalties in 2018. As part of the agreement, Jackson agreed to give Amigo Publishing a shot at first negotiation for any remaining parts of his catalogue that gives them the right to match any better offers from other music publishers.
In October, Amigo claims that Jackson presented it with an offer for remaining parts of his catalogue from another publishing company called Duetti. Amigo officially matched and accepted this offer in November, according to the complaint.
After the agreement was reached, however, the lawsuit claims Jackson then solicited what Amigo refers to as another “sham offer” from Litmus Music as an attempt at “artificially inflating the value of the Retained Interest; and attempting to prevent the consummation of the Amigo Purchase Agreement,” the lawsuit claims.
Jackson has given Amigo records a deadline of Jan. 9 to match Litmus’ offer, but Amigo claims that the offer itself and therefore the deadline is illegitimate.
The lawsuit goes on to argue that Jackson’s attempt to renege on the initial agreement and subsequent attempts to allegedly inflate his price has breached their contract.
As a result, Amigo is seeking $15 million or more in lost profits, and an order preventing Jackson from transferring his musical rights to a third party.
The publishing company is asking for a jury trial on all its claims.
