Fat Joe is being sued over publishing rights for his hit song “All the Way Up” seven years after its release. In 2016, Miami rapper Fly Havana said he collaborated with Infared and Remy Ma on the original track. According to Courthouse News, other people were brought into the loop, including Fat Joe, who would eventually include the song on his own project. Fly Havana says he was never paid properly for his contribution to the song.
Fly Havana’s lawyer, AJ Fluehr, said his client’s “career should have gone ‘all the way up’ after writing a major hit. Instead, defendants caused it to go all the way down.”
The claim has been floating around for a while but on Tuesday (October 17), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said it would reinstate plaintiff Fly Havana, whose name is Eric Elliot, an opportunity to fight the case in court. Consequently, Fat Joe will likely have to head to court.
The first time the complaint came before the courts, a judge in the Southern District of New York decided in favor of the Terror Squad executive without even letting Fly Havana conduct discovery.
The ruling was later vacated in an appellate court, with U.S. Circuit Judge Sarah A.L. Merriam saying the lower court “abused its discretion.” Judge Merriam said there was sufficient evidence for the case to go forward.
The Bronx Bomber reportedly told Fly Havana “he would get him ‘some bread’ upfront… more bread later as the song produced income, that they would begin working together because [Fly Havana] was hot and ‘in the zone,’ and that [he] needed to realize that he would have an ‘incredible relationship’ with Fat Joe going forward if he respected Fat Joe,” the judge recalled from what she was told.
Fluehr believes his client will “have a chance to prove” that his career was hindered by Fat Joe not honoring his word. The court docs state the “Lean Back” recording artist allegedly took him to IHOP in Miami Beach, gave him a $5,000 check and presented to him and had him sign an agreement note that promised payment and songwriting credit, but Fat Joe never gave him a copy.
During the first court proceeding, Fat Joe’s lawyers presented a document that they said was the one Fly Havana signed. The document said Fly Havana assigned all of his rights to an entity called “R4 So Valid LLC.” It also said that the artist was no longer entitled to any additional compensation other than the $5,000 he received. The first court said that was enough for them to move forward with dismissing the claim.
“But it was not appropriate for the district court to resolve this factual dispute against Elliott, the non-moving party, at the summary judgment stage, particularly without the benefit of discovery,” Merriam wrote.