Drake is facing a new legal challenge over one of his recent hits. Grammy-winning songwriter Avi Hirschfield has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the rapper and Universal Music Group, alleging that the chorus of "Janice STFU" uses his original work without credit or compensation.
The complaint puts a spotlight on the collaborative, high-stakes process behind modern hits.
What the lawsuit alleges
Avi Hirschfield, known for co-writing Drake's "Heated" on Beyonce's Renaissance, claims he created and recorded vocals, lyrics, and a melody in early January 2026 over instrumental tracks from the producer duo FnZ. He says he shared the completed recording with the producers and other Drake collaborators but received no response.
According to the allegations, Hirschfield later heard "Janice STFU" on Apple Music around May 15 and recognized his chorus, which he says matched his work word-for-word and note-for-note.
The evidence he cites
Hirschfield alleges that metadata-backed stems support his claim that he composed and recorded the chorus first. He says his manager provided evidence to the defendants, but that they denied him credit and compensation.
Stems and metadata timestamps are increasingly central to music copyright disputes, since they can help establish who recorded what and when.
The legal posture
These are allegations contained in a complaint, not findings by a court. Neither Drake nor Universal Music Group has been found liable, and both have the opportunity to respond and contest the claims.
Copyright cases of this kind often turn on detailed comparisons of the recordings and the paper trail around their creation, and they frequently settle before reaching a verdict.
Why it stands out
Drake is one of the most scrutinized artists in music, and a copyright claim tied to a charting single draws immediate attention. The fact that Hirschfield has an established credit on a major Drake-connected record gives his claim a notable backdrop, since he is not an unknown party to that world.
The case also highlights how blurry authorship can become when songs pass through multiple writers, producers, and collaborators before release.
Authorship in the modern hit factory
Today's biggest songs often pass through a chain of writers, producers, and collaborators before release, which can make authorship genuinely difficult to pin down. Disputes increasingly hinge on digital evidence like timestamped stems and metadata rather than memory alone. Because Hirschfield already has a documented credit in Drake's orbit, his claim is harder to dismiss as an outsider's long shot, which is part of why the case has drawn attention beyond the usual copyright chatter.
Where it stands
The lawsuit is in its early stages, and Drake and UMG have not publicly responded to the specific allegations. For now, Avi Hirschfield is pressing his claim that the "Janice STFU" chorus is his work, and the outcome will hinge on the evidence both sides bring as the case proceeds.
