Common Music Group is once more clapping again at Drake within the authorized battle over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

UMG Recordsdata Movement to Dismiss Texas Pre-Motion Petition

On Thursday (Jan. 23), legal professionals for UMG filed a 144-page movement requesting the dismissal of Drake’s pre-action petition filed in Texas final November, which accuses the music conglomerate of defamation and colluding with iHeartRadio in a payola scheme to artificially inflate Okay-Dot’s chart-topping diss tune. UMG is asking for the dismissal of the case to The Texas Residents Take part Act, which protects residents from retaliatory lawsuits that search to silence them from expressing freedom of speech.

UMG argues that Drake has failed to offer correct proof of his claims that they defamed him by distributing “Not Like Us,” a tune that labels Aubrey a toddler predator.

“Petitioner [Drake] requests to depose each iHeartMedia and UMG to research the connection between iHeartMedia and UMG,” the submitting reads.” However Petitioner doesn’t describe why a deposition of each iHeartMedia’s company consultant and of UMG’s company consultant can be essential to research any alleged settlement between iHeartMedia and UMG respecting “Not Like Us.” With out such clarification, Petitioner has failed to ascertain any doubtless advantage of a pre-suit deposition of UMG, not to mention present that the advantages outweigh the burdens.”

UMG is asking the choose to dismiss the case and requesting reimbursement of authorized charges. The case is about to be heard in Bexar County Court docket on Jan. 28.

Learn Extra: The Wildest Accusations in Drake’s 81-Web page Defamation Lawsuit Towards UMG

Drake Sues UMG in Federal Court docket

Final November, Drake filed two related pre-action petitions in opposition to UMG, which is his and Kendrick Lamar’s father or mother document firm. The Canadian rap star filed a petition in New York, which he has since withdrawn, that accused UMG and Spotify of utilizing bots and pay-for-play to spice up Okay-Dot’s Drake diss. The aforementioned Texas petition accused UMG of doing the identical factor with the assistance of iHeartRadio, in addition to defamation.

On Jan. 15, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit in opposition to UMG in federal court docket over “Not Like Us.” UMG responded to the swimsuit, telling XXL partly: “We’ve not and don’t interact in defamation—in opposition to any particular person. On the identical time, we are going to vigorously defend this litigation to guard our folks and our status, in addition to any artist who would possibly immediately or not directly turn into a frivolous litigation goal for having completed nothing extra that write a tune.”

A minimum of some authorized consultants say Drake may have a troublesome time proving his case in court docket.

Learn Extra: Is Drake Attempting to Stop Kendrick Lamar From Performing “Not Like Us” on the Tremendous Bowl?

See All of the Numbers Calculated for Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s Diss Tracks