Flo Rida Copyright Case Will Spin ‘Right Round’ to the Supreme Court

A new precedent in copyright law might be set soon as Sherman Nealy’s infringement case against Flo Rida’s record label and publishing group heads to the United States Supreme Court this fall. Here’s the “Low”-down:

What is it? Nealy first filed his complaint against Atlantic Records and Warner Chappell Music in 2018, alleging that his rights over songs written in the ‘80s had been wrongfully sold off by his former business partner, Tony Butler (aka Pretty Tony). According to Nealy, the sales occurred without his permission while he was serving time for cocaine possession from 1988 to 2008, and again from 2011 to 2015.

One of the songs Nealy co-owned with Butler, “Jam In The Box,” was later sampled in Flo Rida’s 2008 top 10 hit “In The Ayer,” something Nealy claims he wasn’t aware of until 2016. Soon afterward, he requested damages for copyright infringement dating back to the year Flo Rida’s song was released. Lower courts haven’t been able to agree on whether or not the standard three-year statute of limitations applies to Nealy’s complaints – hence the movement to the Supreme Court.

Why it’s important: The Supreme Court’s imminent ruling will decide a precedent for similar cases as they arise in the future, specifically concerning whether the law’s three-year limit begins as soon as copyright infringement takes place, or whether it starts once a copyright holder such as Nealy becomes aware of infringement. Because of its potential to affect the music industry at large, the case has caught the attention of both the US Chamber of Commerce and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), each of whom have filed “friend of the court” briefs urging SCOTUS to take up the case.