Chad Hugo opposes Pharrell Williams' motion to dismiss copyright lawsuit

Chad Hugo is opposing a motion by Pharrell Williams to dismiss an ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit. Hugo and his legal counsel argue that Williams is attempting to ‘rewrite three decades of musical history’ by diminishing Hugo’s role as a co-founder of the influential production duo The Neptunes and the group N. E. R. D.

In recent court filings, Hugo contends the dispute involves a broad body of work spanning nearly 50 studio sessions conducted between 2019 and 2021, rather than a single track. He specifically cites EarthGang’s song ‘U Gotta’ as an instance where he was allegedly omitted from production credits despite the artists acknowledging his involvement. Hugo maintains that the defendants control the records necessary to identify how these collaborative compositions were released.

Williams’ legal team has moved for dismissal, arguing that Hugo has failed to clearly articulate a federal copyright claim after three years and multiple iterations of the complaint. They characterized the latest version of the filing as vague, noting it focuses on ‘U Gotta’ after previous versions included songs from the N. E. R. D. album ‘No One Ever Really Dies’.