Missy Elliott faces copyright lawsuit, but Aaliyah's song was cut

A federal judge has ruled that Missy Elliott must stand trial in a lawsuit filed by a man who claims to have co-written several of her decades-old songs. However, the judge dismissed the allegations related to a specific song released by Aaliyah.

In a ruling on Tuesday (27 August) Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro declined to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Terry Williams, who claims that he and Elliott collaborated on numerous songs in the 1990s, but she refused to credit him as a co-writer.

For four of the five songs allegedly co-written – tracks released by their 1990s R&B group Sista – Elliott's lawyers argued that she did not meet Williams until after the songs were produced. But Williams disputes that point, and the judge said a jury must decide who is right.

“In light of these conflicting arguments and evidence, the real question is whether Williams and Elliott were collaborating at the time of production of the SISTA album … and whether Williams' contributions to the unreleased songs were used on derivative songs released on the album,” Judge Alejandro wrote.

The judge, however, dismissed one of Williams' main allegations: that he and Elliott co-wrote “Heartbroken,” a song released by the late Aaliyah in 1996. The judge ruled that Williams knew for decades that he was not credited on the song but waited until 2018 to sue – meaning his efforts to sue over the song are time-barred.

“Given the success of Aaliyah’s One in a million “Given that Williams' unreleased song was used in the allegedly derivative song 'Heartbroken' by Aaliyah, and Williams' work in the music industry after the album's release, including with Elliott, a reasonable person in Williams' position would have been aware of the use of his unreleased song in the allegedly derivative song 'Heartbroken' by Aaliyah,” Judge Alejandro wrote.

Monday's ruling does not mean Williams has won his case. The decision, which largely denied Elliott's motion for so-called summary judgment, means the case will now go to trial, where Williams will have to prove his allegations before a jury.

Neither side immediately responded to requests for comment on Wednesday.