Jason Derulo Hit w/ Federal Lawsuit After ‘Refusing’ To Credit Music Producer Who Allegedly Co-Wrote His Single ‘Savage Love’

Jason Derulo

Jason Derulo Hit w/ Federal Lawsuit After ‘Refusing’ To Credit Music Producer Who Allegedly Co-Wrote His Single ‘Savage Love’

Pop singer Jason Derulo is being accused of doing shady business.

According to a report from RadarOnline, the musician, real name Jason Joel Desrouleaux, is facing a federal lawsuit after cutting an alleged music producer/co-writer from the credits on one of his hit singles.

Jason Derulo

Reportedly, the song in question is Jason Derulo’s 2020 record “Savage Love.” The song was released in June of that year and lists Derulo and producer Joshua Christian Nanai, also known as Jawsh 685, as collaborators. However, music producer Matthew Spatola, also known as Matty Spats, reportedly claims in the new lawsuit that he essentially wrote the record with the 33-year-old musician earlier that year, despite being left off the credits and unable to receive royalties.

In the suit, filed against Derulo and his music partner Sony Music Entertainment, Spatola’s lawyers reportedly claim:

“Derulo then unilaterally released Savage Love, without providing any credit whatsoever to Spatola for the work they jointly created together. This lawsuit is filed to right that wrong, and to ensure that Spatola is properly credited as a co-writer of Savage Love and compensated for his contributions thereto,” 

Adding:

“Although Spatola had produced at Derulo’s home studio before Savage Love, those sessions involved a larger group of contributors and were entirely unrelated to Savage Love, …To Spatola’s knowledge, none of the music created at those earlier sessions was ever released by Derulo. Savage Love was different – the writing and conceptualizing of the instrumental composition and the creation of the actual recording occurred when Spatola and Derulo were the only contributors present in Derulo’s studio collaborating together to create Savage Love.”

The single peaked at #1 in seventeen different countries, including the UK, New Zealand and Australia. The song was such a hit, that it resulted in a remix being released in October of 2020 featuring K-Pop stars BTS. In the suit, Spatola’s legal team addresses the success of the single, doubling down on claims that neither Derulo nor Sony had the right to release the record without his knowledge, let alone without proper crediting. The legal doc continues:

“If Spatola had been properly credited as a co-author and co-producer of a hit like Savage Love, he would have received additional opportunities that were lost due to this lack of credit…Composers credited with co-writing hit songs as writers are invited to work with other top performers in the industry, along with other lucrative opportunities.”

Matthew Spatola

Adding:

“Had Derulo and Sony properly accounted to Spatola, he would have also directly generated substantial royalties,” 

Jason Derulo

Reportedly, the amount Spatola is seeking in damages is undisclosed at this time, and a judge has yet to rule on the matter.

Does it sound like Jason Derulo is guilty of song theft? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!