Yeasayer’s Lawsuit Against The Weeknd Over 'Black Panther' Song "Pray for Me” Has Been Dropped

The now-defunct band said in a filing that they had "confirmed to their satisfaction" that no copyright infringement had taken place, meaning the suit is over.

July 10, 2020

The lawsuit centered on The Weeknd's 2018 track "Pray for Me," taken from Black Panther: The Album, has been dropped.

Yeasayer, who had alleged that the Kendrick Lamar collab marked an example of copyright infringement against the (no-longer-active) band's track "Sunrise," have "voluntarily dismissed" the suit. According to Pitchfork, members of the group said they have "confirmed to their satisfaction" that there was no copyright infringement.

The suit in question had named The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, UMG, Interscope, Aftermath, and Top Dawg Entertainment, as well as producers Frank Dukes and Doc McKinney. Back in April, The Weeknd and his team responded to the original suit, ultimately asking the court to dismiss the claims.

"The sound recording of 'Pray For Me' does not capture any actual sounds from the sound recording, 'Sunrise,'" Abel and his team said at the time.

The Weeknd is currently still in the middle of the After Hours era of his increasingly stacked career. Earlier this month, he released an animated video for his "In Your Eyes" remix featuring Doja Cat.

In June, Abel—whose coronavirus response has included multiple donations and other efforts—stepped up with a $500,000 CAD gift in support of COVID-19 frontline workers in his hometown.

"I was raised in Scarborough and felt it was important to give back to the community that raised me during the hard times of this pandemic," he said of the donation to the Scarborough Health Network by way of sales of his wildly popular XO-branded face masks.