Missy Elliott faces court hearing over copyright claims by an alleged co-author

A federal judge ordered Missy Elliott to face trial after a man filed a copyright lawsuit against her. Terry Williams claims he co-wrote several of Elliott's songs from the 1990s, but was never credited as a writer.

In a judgment that Rolling Stonefiled Monday, Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro declined to dismiss Williams' lawsuit. The judge also granted in part Elliott's claims for summary judgment on Aaliyah's song “Heartbroken,” one of the five songs in dispute.

Elliott's lawyers argued that on four of the five songs allegedly co-written by her 1990s R&B group Sista, the rapper met with Williams after the songs were produced. Williams denied this claim, saying during his testimony that he and Elliott worked together between 1993 and 1996. The songs in question appeared on 1994's 4 All Sistas around the worldThe judge leaves the decision to a jury.

“Given these conflicting arguments and evidence, the question arises as to whether Williams and Elliott were working together at the time the SISTA album was produced. 4 All Sistas Around the world and whether Williams' contributions to the unreleased songs were used for derivative songs released on the album,” Judge Alejandro wrote.

Williams also claimed he co-wrote Aaliyah's song “Heartbroken” from her 1996 album One in a million with Elliott, but the judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that Williams had known for decades that his name was not mentioned in the song credits.

“Williams initiated this lawsuit against Elliott on November 14, 2018, more than twenty-two years after the publication of Inconsolable. In these circumstances, the Court also concludes that Williams has failed to demonstrate that he exercised due care. Therefore, Williams' co-ownership claim based on the song Inconsolable Rights released by Aaliyah expire after three years. Accordingly, Elliott's motion for summary judgment regarding Williams' co-ownership claim based on Aaliyah's song Inconsolable”, wrote Judge Alejandro.

A lawyer for Elliott did not immediately return Rolling Stonefor comment, and Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A pretrial conference between Williams and Elliott will take place on November 13.