Missy Elliott faces trial over copyright claims from alleged uncredited ’90s co-writer

A federal judge has ruled that Missy Elliott must face trial as part of a lawsuit filed by a man who claims to have co-written a number of her songs from the ’90s.

Earlier this week, Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro refused to dismiss the lawsuit filed by producer Terry Williams, who says he and Elliott collaborated on five songs but that she refused to credit him as a co-writer. Allegations over one of those songs, which was ultimately released by Aaliyah, were dismissed, but the claims related to the other four will be discussed in court.

Those four tracks were released by Elliott’s 1990s R&B group Sista, but Elliott’s attorneys have argued that she did not even meet Williams until after the songs had been produced. Williams disagrees, however, and the judge’s ruling now means it will be up to a jury to decide who is right.

Confirming the ruling, Judge Alejandro wrote: “Considering these conflicting arguments and evidence, a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Williams and Elliott were working together at the time of the production of the SISTA album, and whether Williams’ contributions to the Unpublished Songs were used on derivative songs released on the album.”

Williams’ allegation that he also co-wrote Aaliyah’s 1996 song ‘Heartbroken’ with Elliott was dismissed because the judge said he had known for many years that he was not credited on the track and had waited until 2018 to sue, meaning the lawsuit related to that song was barred by the statute of limitations.

Dismissing this allegation, Judge Alejandro wrote: “Considering the success of Aaliyah’s ‘One In A Million’ album, on which ‘Heartbroken’ was released, and Williams’ work in the music industry after the album’s release, including with Elliott, a reasonable person in Williams’ position would have been on notice of the use of his unpublished song in the purportedly derivative song ‘Heartbroken’ by Aaliyah.”

The onus will now be on Williams to prove his allegations before the jury when the case comes to trial.

Elliott recently headed out on a 24-date headline tour of North America, and she also performed at her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last November.

The US artist was previously honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a street name in her Virginia hometown and even a Madame Tussauds wax figure in the Las Vegas museum.