Musician Frank Ocean’s law-suit claims that his lawyers attempted between 2014 and 2016 to get producer Om'Mas Keith to sign a written agreement declaring that he did not write any of the songs on the album Blonde.
However, the producer allegedly refused and in 2016 tried to register as a co-writer on 11 Blonde tracks with the publishing giant ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) according to Rolling Stone.
The suit also names Keith's Analog Genius Corporation and several unnamed defendants, arguing none of them "own any portion of the copyright rights" to Ocean's music.
The suit states that Frank Ocean "has never written any compositions with (Keith)… Moreover, all of the Compositions and the ASCAP Compositions were written well before Defendants, or any of them, rendered any services whatsoever in connection with any of the masters. Defendants did not contribute any lyrics, melodies, or music that would give rise to any claim of authorship."
Before working on Blonde,Om'Mas Keith helped produce Ocean's breakout album, Channel Orange. When Ocean approached him to work on Blonde, the suit alleges, they entered into an oral agreement that mirrored the written agreement which Keith signed for his work on Channel Orange.
That agreement declared that Keith would produce certain master recordings, receive a flat rate and acknowledge that he did not write or co-write any of the tracks.
On its release in 2012, Channel Orange was universally hailed by the critics and Ocean quickly developed a cult following. Pitchfork hailed the album as `a classic.'
"Frank Ocean has quickly proven himself to be among the most gifted singer-songwriters of his generation. His major-label debut swings from Stevie-style keyboard breeziness to 90s R&B to mystic psych rock to crunching 8-bit funk without thinking twice. "
