A United States lawsuit over a Rihanna track from the Smurfs film has ended in a settlement. The case was filed earlier this year by Grammy-nominated songwriter RØMANS (Sam Roman), who claimed Paramount Pictures used his song without authorization or payment.
Settlement terms
In court filings Monday, attorneys for both sides told a judge they had “signed a written confidential settlement agreement” to end the dispute. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and neither side immediately returned requests for comment.
Rihanna was not accused of wrongdoing and was not involved in the litigation.
Origins of the dispute
Roman, who co-wrote Lewis Capaldi’s 2018 chart-topper “Someone You Loved,” alleged that Paramount first approached him in 2022 about writing a song for the Smurfs movie. He has also co-written music with Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys and Calvin Harris.
He said the studio pitched that the track would be performed by Rihanna, would be heavily promoted as part of the film, and that he would retain “significant backend royalties.”
As the release neared, Roman said he was told that “Anyone” would not be released commercially after all. He said that change fundamentally altered the economics of the deal and caused negotiations to be “completely halted.” With no agreement in place, he alleged Paramount “astoundingly” decided to release Smurfs anyway, with his uncleared music in “key scenes.”
Allegations against Paramount
Roman said that after the film’s release, Paramount chose to “blame Rihanna” for the situation. The studio allegedly told him it was “very frustrated by the money it had supposedly spent on Rihanna’s participation” and felt it had “not gotten an appropriate return from her.”
“Paramount took the tack common to a toddler confronted with wrongdoing: Blame someone else. In this case, blame Rihanna,” Roman’s lawyer wrote. “Paramount decided to punish plaintiff, and brazenly infringe his copyrights by using them without consent and without paying him a dime, because the studio was mad at Rihanna.”
Film performance and second song
Smurfs, a live-action/animated hybrid, was released last summer to largely negative reviews and was a box-office flop, reportedly losing $80 million for Paramount. In addition to “Anyone,” Roman says he also wrote a second song, “Always on the Outside,” performed by James Corden, that was also used without his permission.
