Photo credit: Feid – Ferxxo 100 (Official Video)
Colombian artist Fayed is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit along with Universal Music over his 2022 smash hit “Ferxxo 100” and two other songs.
Composer Sebastian Grau is suing Fayed, a Latino artist whose real name is Salomon Villada Hoyos, for using his samples without compensation on Fayed's 2022 hit “Ferxxo 100” and two other songs, “X20X” and “De Tanto Chimbiar.” Grau, who composes guitar loops, claims in the lawsuit that he was never credited or compensated for the use of the samples in the songs, despite “months of assurances” from the producer.
According to the complaint, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Southern California, Grau was repeatedly told by the songs' producers that he would be properly compensated and given credit, but was ultimately offered compensation terms that led Grau to believe he was being “taken advantage of by the creative teams behind the three infringing songs.”
“Glaucus has attempted to resolve this dispute out of litigation,” the complaint states, which also names Universal Music Group, Colombian label Icon Music and producers Sky Rompiendo and Jowan (Johan Esteban Espinosa Cuervo) as co-defendants, “but those attempts have been completely unsuccessful, making this lawsuit necessary.”
Glaucus alleges in his lawsuit that he met with Fayed's team from Icon Music during a trip to Colombia in September 2021, which led to a meeting with producers Sky Rompiendo and Jowan. During a subsequent trip to Miami, Glaucus gave Jowan access to several audio files containing his copyrighted material. Jowan then allegedly told Glaucus that he had used three of those compositions on three songs by Fayed.
“Glaucus was thrilled with the opportunity to be featured on these songs and looked forward to being credited as producer for his contributions to the songs' melodies and overall structure,” the lawsuit reads. “However, despite months of assurances from Jowan and Defendants that Glaucus would be credited and properly compensated for his contributions, Plaintiff has yet to be paid or properly credited.”
“Ferxxo 100,” the biggest hit of the three songs in question, was released in June 2022. The song has been streamed over 444 million times on Spotify, and its official music video on YouTube has been viewed 245 million times.
Two months after the launch of Ferxxo 100, Sky Rompiendo's company made “one of the most adverse proposals” Guller and his management team had ever received, according to the lawsuit. “To date, no resolution has been reached.”
Grau, a Belgian-born composer who has written guitar loops that have been used on records by artists including Don Toliver, NBA YoungBoy and Ricky Martin, is seeking compensatory or statutory damages, producer credits on three songs and compensation for attorneys' fees.