Nelly has hit back at former St. Lunatics member Ali‘s $50 million lawsuit for alleged owed royalties, basically saying he’s come with way too little, way too late.
In new legal docs obtained by AllHipHop on Thursday (January 23), Nelly’s legal team filed a motion for sanctions, noting that Ali’s claims are beyond the three-year statute of limitations under copyright law.
In the filing, they point to a 2021 letter where they rejected Ali’s ownership claims then – thus putting it outside of the three-year window. They also note that Ali failing to include the letter in his new lawsuit was in bad faith.
“Plaintiff’s counsel and Plaintiff have engaged in sanctionable conduct by omitting the dates of the express repudiation,” they wrote.
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In addition to alleging that Nelly is withholding royalties over contributions the St. Lunatics made to his blockbuster album Country Grammar, Ali is also claiming copyright infringement and unjust enrichment.
Nelly’s team refutes these claims as well, however, saying that if Ali is a co-owner like he claims, then legally co-owners of a copyright can’t sue each other for infringement. And on the claim of unjust enrichment, they say it’s preempted by federal copyright law.
Nelly’s legal team is looking for Ali and his team to be hit with sanctions, while also requesting they pay his legal fees for what they say is an “objectively frivolous” lawsuit.
“Even the barest factual investigation and legal research would have revealed that the claims were barred,” they added.
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Originally filed on behalf of the St. Lunatics, Ali is the only member still standing behind the suit, as Murphy Lee, Kyjuan and City Spud have since claimed they did not consent to the lawsuit and formally withdrawn their names from the filing.
In the original complaint, St. Lunatics alleged that Nelly had “manipulated” the group into believing that they had been paid for their work on his diamond-certified debut album, but that was not the case.
The suit read: “Every time plaintiffs confronted defendant Haynes [Nelly], [he] would assure them as ‘friends’ he would never prevent them from receiving the financial success they were entitled to.
“Unfortunately, plaintiffs, reasonably believing that their friend and former band member would never steal credit for writing the original compositions, did not initially pursue any legal remedies.”
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Shortly afterwards, St. Lunatics — with the exception of Ali — joined Nelly on stage at the 2024 American Music Awards before the trio subsequently demanded they be removed from the lawsuit.
