Drake and Chris Brown accused of stealing ‘without guidance’ in $5 million lawsuit

Drake and Chris Brown were sued for $5 million over their 2019 single “No Guidance.” According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, on October 25, Tykeiya Dore and Marc Stephens filed a multiple copyright infringement lawsuit in New Jersey.

The plaintiffs alleged that Drake and Brown’s “No Guidance” is a snippet of Dore’s song “I Got It.” Drake and Brown’s collaboration allegedly used “the same chord progressions, tempo, key, key, melody, harmony, rhythm, structure, phrasing and lyrics” as Dore’s song.

Dore wrote “I Got It” in 2015, published it in 2016, and uploaded it to YouTube in 2017. She registered the song with the U.S. Copyright Office in July 2019, a month after the release of “No Guidance.”

The lawsuit alleged that the writers and producers of “No Guidance” gained access to “I Got It” because it was uploaded to director Benji Filmz’s YouTube channel. Vinylz, who co-produced “No Guidance,” allegedly monitored Benji’s channel.

“Defendant Anderson Hernandez, professionally known as Vinylz, discovered and accessed Tykeiya’s song ‘I Got It’ and Cardi B’s songs on Benji Filmz’s YouTube channel,” the lawsuit states. “In 2018, Vinylz later produced Cardi B’s song “Be Careful.” In 2019, without permission, Tykeiya’s song was “I Got It” and was used by Vinlyz in Chris Brown’s song “No Guidance”.

Dore’s uncle, Jesse Spruils, allegedly gave a copy of her song to “No Guidance” co-writer Nija Charles. He met with Charles after the release of “No Guidance” in 2019. Dore was unaware of what her uncle had done until 2024.

“Defendant Chris Brown’s song ‘No Guidance’ was released and plaintiff’s uncle contacted Nija Charles to speak to her regarding stealing the chorus of plaintiff’s song ‘I Got It,'” the lawsuit reads. “Defendant Nija Charles blocked plaintiff’s uncle from accessing her social media accounts. The plaintiff’s uncle felt incompetent, humiliated and ashamed that he allowed the song “I Got It” to be copied without compensation, so he never told the plaintiff Tykeiya about it. It was not until May 21, 2024 that plaintiff Tykeiya hired Marc Stephens that she discovered that her uncle knew that defendant Nija Charles and Vinlyz had access to her song.”

The lawsuit also targeted YouTube and Google for unlawfully removing the copyright infringement comparison video Posted by Stephens. The plaintiffs sued YouTube and Google for unjust enrichment, defamation, common law fraud and emotional distress, among others.