A student songwriter has reportedly launched legal action against US singer Usher, claiming that one of his songs was stolen and used on a track from Usher’s ‘Raymond vs Raymond’ album.
In the civil complaint, Kameron Glasper claims that he sold the song in question to Legendary Poets Music Publishing as part of a 10-track deal. He alleges to have been a naive student and a “struggling singer-songwriter” at the time, and claims that the publishing company took advantage of his inexperience and young age to persuade him to sign away the rights to his songs.
Glasper now says that the track ‘Monstar’ from Usher’s hit album Raymond vs. Raymond is, in fact, his song, and that he has been cheated out of royalties and songwriting credits. There are seven people listed as co-writers of the song, but Glasper’s name doesn’t appear.
The songwriter says that as Legendary Poets Music Publishing closed in February 2010 before a relaunch later in the year, his contract should have been dissolved.
For the alleged theft of his intellectual property, Glasper is suing Usher and his record label (who presumably have professional indemnity insurance in place for legal issues of this kind) for compensation, legal costs and ownership of the song.