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The legal feud between Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams is getting worse by the day.
According to a report Forbes published on Monday, March 9, the former N.E.R.D. producer amended his original lawsuit last month to include allegations that Williams left his production credit out of several major songs within the past few years. Hugo's new complaint points out eight songs he claims he produced but wasn't compensated for, including Pharrell's "Cash In Cash Out," Latto's "Real One," Nigo's "Lost and Found" with Tyler, The Creator, Kendrick Lamar's unreleased track "Pure," plus Rosalia's "Motomami" and "La Combi Versace."
“Defendant Williams and his team have failed to honor Plaintiff’s entitlements under their agreement, have failed to provide Plaintiff with his entitled publishing rights, and have taken full credit for all of Plaintiff’s contributions without proper attribution or compensation," Hugo's filing says. "Defendant Williams has denied Plaintiff’s joint authorship and co-ownership of the copyrights in works Plaintiff created as part of The Neptunes.”
In his complaint, Hugo asserted that he acted as "principal composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and producer responsible for programming, instrumentation, and overall sound design, while Defendant Williams more frequently appeared as the public-facing member of the duo.” It's still not clear why Hugo didn't include the new claims in his original complaint. Despite his efforts, he may face issues with his latest allegations regarding songs made before 2022 due to the three-year statute of limitations under the US Copyright Act.
Hugo and Williams, who were childhood friends before their rise to fame in the music industry, have been involved in a legal dispute for the past few years. It began as far back as 2021 when Hugo repeatedly attempted to gain access to necessary records as part of their operations agreement. After failing to obtain completed documents, Hugo's attorneys got involved and sent demand letters for financial disclosures, which continued over the last four years.
“Defendant Williams’ persistent failure to provide [financial records] constitutes a breach of the operating agreement,” Hugo’s attorneys said in his original lawsuit. “Plaintiff has been deprived of the transparency necessary to evaluate buyout proposals, confirm the calculation and categorization of distributions owed to him … and assess revenues.”
Pharrell has denied the allegations and dismissed the lawsuit as "premature." In a previous statement, P's team said he "consistently acted in good faith" and "has great respect for Chad."