Former St. Lunatics members have filed a $50 million lawsuit against Nelly (Cornell Haynes Jr.), alleging copyright infringement and manipulation regarding writing credits for his 2000 album, Country Grammar.

Photo Credit: The Come Up Show / CC by 2.0

The plaintiffs - Ali Jones, Lavell Web, Robert Kyjuan, and Tohri Harper - claim Nelly promised them writing credits and publishing income for their contributions to the album. Former member Corey Edwards is not involved in the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, the group members continued performing with Nelly as backup performers, relying on his repeated assurances of receiving proper credit. They allegedly discovered in 2020 that they had not received any recognition as authors or creators, while Nelly and others claimed full credit for the original compositions.

The discovery came after learning about a separate dispute between Willie Woods Jr. (known as John Long) and Nelly regarding writing credits for the song "Ride Wit Me" from Country Grammar.

The lawsuit names several major music industry entities as defendants alongside Nelly:

• Universal Music Group (UMG)
• Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG)
• BMG
• Kobalt
• Hipgnosis

The plaintiffs are seeking damages for copyright infringement and the alleged breach of promises regarding writing credits and publishing royalties.

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