IP Law Daily, COPYRIGHT NEWS: Caught You in a Lie? A relatively unknown R&B song triggers an international dispute over rights, (May 9, 2025)

By Matthew Hersh, J.D.

The claimed owner of the original song claims that a British superstar Baker infringed on its copyrights.

The music publisher and record labels behind a chart-topping song by British performer Bakar infringed upon both the compositional and master recording rights to a relatively obscure 1960’s R&B song, a new federal lawsuit claims. The lawsuit, brought by the putative owner of the rights to the original song, also accuses several other parties of fraudulently merchandising their own alleged rights to the work (TufAmerica, Inc. v. Black Butter Records, No. 1:25-cv-03785 (S.D.N.Y. filed May 6, 2025)).

The litigation involves a tangled web of claims to I Caught You in a Lie, a 1967 single performed by Robert Parker and written by Lee Diamond. One claimant is Tuff City Records, a company that administers the copyright of R&B and soul music that, according to its court papers, “might otherwise fall into obscurity.” A second claimant is the Resnik Music Group, a husband and wife team of Buddy and Sharen Resnik that, according to its website, “was built upon the foundations of Buddy Resnik’s affinity for the music that was evidence of a troubled past within the southern United States during his youth.” A third claimant is Maple Gaines, about whom little is known except that she appears to be affiliated with Bonatemp Music Publishing, a sublabel of music publisher NOLA that was founded by one Ulis Gaines.

The lawsuit arose out of the success of Hell N Back, a song by British singer Bakar that was originally released as a single from his EP Will You Be My Yellow? in 2019. The song, released by Black Butter Records, started out as a sleeper hit but eventually charted in the UK and Australia and, later, internationally. Bakar released a remix of the song, featuring performer Summer Walker, in 2023. Music publisher LVRN Publishing is the music publisher associated with Walker in connection with the remix, while Sony Music UK owns the master recording rights to the original as well as the remix.

Tuff City’s lawsuit is founded upon four elements. First is a copyright infringement against Bakar, Black Butter Records, LVRN, and Sony UK. “With the possible exception of the first four beats at the start, and possibly one or two beats at the end of the 3 1/2- and 3 1/4-minute songs,” the complaint asserts, Hell N Back samples “the entire rhythm track (including all of the bass and drum sounds)” from the original throughout the entire duration of those tracks. These samples, the lawsuit claims, were not authorized by Tuff City.

The second element of the lawsuit is a declaratory judgment claim against the same four entities. The claim seeks a declaration that Tuff City, and not any of the other parties, is the owner of the songwriting and master recording rights to I Caught You in a Lie. The lawsuit asserts that Tuff City acquired the music publishing rights by assignment from Bonatemps, the original publisher of the work, while it acquired the master recording rights from Bonatemps’ parent label NOLA. To the extent any of the other parties claim that they obtained those rights from NOLA or Bonatemps, the lawsuit asserts, those claims are false.

The third element is a fraud claim against Gaines, who purported to license the master recording rights to the original work to Sony UK. The lawsuit asserts that Gaines, who presumably claims ownership through her own connection to NOLA and Bonatemps, fraudulent demanded that she be paid royalties in connection with Hell N Bank. As a result, the lawsuit contends, “Sony UK has been collecting – but not distributing – royalties attributable to the exploitation of [Hell N Back], and has declined to do so unless and until ordered to do so, and ordered to do so to whom, by a court.”

Finally, and for good measure, the lawsuit adds a fourth claim—though one that does not appear to include Hell N Back. This claim is aimed at Resnik Music, which, according to the lawsuit, claim that they own the songwriters rights to the original work by means of a complicated series of inheritances and then transfers from the estate of Lee Diamond. According to the lawsuit, Resnick has fraudulently asserted their rights to the composition rights to Broadcast Music, Inc.—which in turn, as a result, “has not been distributing the correct amount of public performance royalties from the exploitation of the Composition” to Tuff City.

Perhaps notably, in light of all the attention it has drawn, the original song was not well known—nor was it a career-maker for either the performer or the songwriter. Parker, a New Orleans-born performer who died in 2020 at the age of 89, was best known for the 1966 chart-topper Barefootin’. Diamond, an R&B singer and songwriter who recorded for several different record labels in the 1950s and 1960s, was best known for his contribution to Aaron Neville’s Tell It Like It Is.

The Case is No. 1:25-cv-03785.

Judge: Cronan, J.

Attorneys: Hillel Ira Parness (Parness Law Firm, PLLC) for TufAmerica, Inc.

Companies: TufAmerica, Inc.; Black Butter Records; Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd.; LVRN Publishing LLC; Resnik Music Group

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