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Parkwood princess Chlöe Bailey is accused of shady business practices in a new lawsuit against her and her labels. Songwriter Melvin Moore claims he contributed extensively to the singer’s sophomore album, Trouble in Paradise, but never received payment. As a result, he is seeking damages for at least $5 million.
According to Variety, the lawsuit was filed on Feb. 20th and alleges that Bailey, 26, and her labels, Columbia Records and Parkwood Entertainment, withheld payment after he worked on three songs from Bailey’s latest album: “Favorite,” “Same Lingerie,” and “Might As Well.” Moore, who also goes by “OneInThe4Rest” (“4Rest”), says Bailey and the label “commercially exploited” his work.
“In particular, the lyrics and narratives were derived from intimate and real-life situations, reflecting [Moore’s] relationships, emotions, and personal struggles,” the filing stated. The complaint also details how the plaintiffs “failed to seek permission from [Moore] to commercially exploit” his work and “also failed to engage in good-faith negotiations with [Moore] prior to the commercial release” of the songs.
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The court documents also allege that Moore did not receive “proper professional writing credit,” though his name is found on the credits of the aforementioned songs on streaming platforms. Nevertheless, he continues by claiming he was never paid for his work while the label promoted the songs without his writing credits on the songs.
Moore has several other songwriting credits from many artists, including G-Eazy, French Montana, Usher, Ty Dolla $ign, Chris Brown, 2 Chainz, John Legend, Jason Derulo, Kanye West, Trey Songz, and Drake.
Moore Sends Chlöe Bailey Cease And Desist In New Lawsuit
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If suing Bailey and her labels isn’t enough, Moore wants the songs he wrote removed from the public eyes and ears. Separate from the lawsuit, Moore sent Bailey, Columbia Records, and Parkwood Entertainment a cease and desist letter. He stated he doesn’t intend to grant any rights to the songs for Bailey to use.
Additionally, he will not allow a first-use mechanical license for his work. He also says he is owed $10,000 for his contributions to the songs. This is in addition to his request to immediately cease all further unauthorized uses until the matter can be settled.
To correct this alleged loss, Moore is requesting that the three songs be removed from all digital music platforms, websites, blogs, and social media platforms. He also requested a 2% royalty allocation for each master and a publishing allocation. This is in addition to his request of $150,000 per willful infringement, a $5 million per song for punitive damages.
According to the Jasmine Brand, this is not the first time this issue has been brought to light. In January, music artist advocate Tiffany Red spoke up about Bailey’s alleged business practices. Red is the founder of The 100 Percenters, which is representing Moore. She claims that Bailey had knowledge of the alleged injustice, but took no action to rectify the situation.
Bailey and her team have not released a statement regarding the lawsuit.
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