An artist, known as Trefuego, has been required to pay over $800,000 in damages to Sony Music after the music corporation won a copyright infringement lawsuit against him. Trefuego, whose real name is Dantreal Daevon Clark-Rainbolt, received a takedown notice for his song “90mh” in 2022. Sony filed the complaint against him, citing that the artist used Japanese composer Toshifumi Hinata’s “Reflections” without permission. The lawsuit claimed that Trefuego took the music composition and sound recording of Hinata’s 1986 classic and used it unlawfully in his music.
The lawsuit stated, “Trefuego… simply stole Hinata’s musical composition and sound recording, using them without asking and without permission, all in flagrant violation of the United States Copyright Laws. Trefuego’s infringing conduct has and continues to severely damage and diminish the market for Hinata’s works by falsely inferring that he endorses and/or supports Trefuego’s use of ‘Reflections’ in ‘90mh’”. Sony claimed that Trefuego’s infringing behavior cost Hinata a severe financial loss in the market.
Sony reported that Trefuego’s track appeared in approximately 155,000 TikTok videos, and the song was streaming on Spotify over 100 million times. A federal judge decided in Sony’s favor, confirming that the young TikToker had violated Sony’s legal rights. The judge ordered Trefuego to pay $802,997 – which included approximately $700,000 in profits from streaming platforms, $100,000 in Sony’s licensing fees, ongoing royalties, and legal costs incurred during the litigation.
District Judge Mark T. Pittman expressed his hopes that the case would serve as a lesson to Trefuego. He also ordered Trefuego to pay ongoing royalties, which would include a 50% cut of publishing revenue and a 20% cut of recording income. At present, Trefuego and Sony are yet to respond to any requests for comments regarding the case.
In other news, City Girls’ JT has advised her fans to use unofficial versions of her upcoming solo single, “Okay,” on TikTok, despite Universal Music Group (UMG)’s ban on using their music on the platform. Nevertheless, some fans believe there could be severe legal consequences, given Trefuego’s lawsuit against Sony
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