Nelly won a copyright lawsuit after a judge ruled Ali’s claims were too late and sanctioned his lawyers for pushing a case that had no legal basis.
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Nellie scored a legal victory in federal court in Missouri, where a judge dismissed Ali’s lawsuit and sanctioned his attorneys for making a case that the court said had no merit.
Ali Jones, who performs with hip-hop group Nelly, has accused the rapper of copyright infringement and unjust enrichment, claiming he was denied credit and compensation for his contribution to songs on Nelly’s 2000 debut album Country Grammar.
But U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleisig dismissed the charges, ruling they were either legally invalid, filed too late, or both.
The court found that Ali received a letter from Nelly’s legal team in June 2021 rejecting his authorship and payment requests.
The letter opened a three-year deadline for filing copyright claims, the judge said. Ali did not apply until after that window closed.
Alibaba’s legal team tried to circumvent the timing issue by amending the complaint and omitting key dates. The court found the strategy to be malicious.
“The court finds that plaintiff’s counsel acted unreasonably and vexatiously in continuing to pursue claims that were clearly time-barred and preempted,” the order said.
The judge also rejected Ali’s unjust enrichment argument, saying it was essentially a repackaged copyright claim. Under federal law, such claims are not allowed when they overlap with copyright issues.
Because the case was without merit, the court ordered Ali’s attorneys to pay a $1,000 fine and reimburse Nellie for attorney fees incurred since her first complaint.
The judge did not punish Ali personally but criticized him and his legal team for actions that were not justified.
The ruling emphasized that Nelly’s legal response in 2021 was clear and final, leaving no ambiguity regarding Ali’s lack of rights to the songs in question.
The decision closed the door to Ali’s attempts to claim authorship more than two decades after “Country Grammar” was released.
