A federal judge says Missy Elliott should stand trial in a lawsuit filed by a man who claims he co-wrote many of her decades-old songs, although the judge dismissed claims about a specific song released by Aaliyah.
In a decision on Tuesday (August 27), Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Terry Williams, who claims he and Elliott collaborated on several songs in the 1990s, but she refused to credit him as a co-writer.
For four of the five songs they allegedly co-wrote — tracks released by 1990s R&B group Sista — Elliott's lawyers argued she didn't even meet Williams until after the songs were produced. But Williams disputes that point, and the judge said a jury would have to decide who was right.
“Given these conflicting arguments and evidence, there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Williams and Elliott were working together at the time of the production of the SISTA album … and whether Williams' contributions to the Unpublished Songs were used in derivative songs that were released on the album,” Judge Alejandro wrote.
But the judge rejected one of Williams' key claims: that he and Elliott co-wrote “Heartbroken,” a 1996 track released by the late Aaliyah. The judge ruled that Williams had known for decades that he wasn't credited on the track, but waited until 2018 to sue — meaning his attempts to sue over the song are barred by the statute of limitations.
“Given Aaliyah's success One in a million album, on which “Heartbroken” was released, and Williams' work in the music industry after the album's release, including Elliott, a reasonable person in Williams' position would have been alerted to the use of his unreleased song in the alleged derivative song Heartbroken by Aaliyah,” Judge Alejandro wrote.
Monday's ruling does not mean Williams won his case. The ruling, which largely rejected Elliott's motion for so-called summary judgment, leaves the case to trial, where Williams will have to prove his claims in front of a jury.
Neither side immediately returned requests for comment Wednesday.
