A federal judge in California, United States, has dismissed a copyright lawsuit over Flo Milli’s 2023 hit “Never Lose Me”, ruling that the plaintiff had no right to sue because the beat license was never signed.
Ruling turned on the license paperwork#
Baltimore-based artist Shamar Deal claimed that a US$200 (US dollar) purchase on the online marketplace Traktrain in 2019 gave him a 10-year exclusive license to a beat used in the song. On Friday, November 6, Judge André Birotte Jr. ruled that the license was never signed by the producer who made the beat, or by anyone shown to be acting for him.
The judge dismissed Deal’s copyright claims with prejudice, meaning the plaintiff will not be given another chance to amend them. The 10-page order is available in full.
Judge Birotte did not decide whether either song infringed anything. The ruling rested on the license documents alone.
Claims and parties#
Deal filed suit in the US District Court for the Central District of California in June 2025 over the beat’s sound recording. In December 2025, he filed a second, related suit over the beat’s underlying composition, and the court later consolidated the two cases.
The defendants are:
- Flo Milli
- Babyface Ray
- 42 Dugg
- Producer Gerreaux, also known as Gerreaux Katana
- Sony Music Entertainment
- EMPIRE
Deal claimed that Gerreaux, whose real name is Gerald Henry, licensed the same beat, titled “Youu”, to Babyface Ray and 42 Dugg in 2023. The two rappers used it on their track “Ron Artest”, distributed by EMPIRE, according to the original complaint.
Flo Milli then sampled “Ron Artest” on “Never Lose Me”, which was released via Sony Music Entertainment’s RCA Records.
The complaint stated: “As Plaintiff currently holds the exclusive right to the Composition, the incorporation of the Composition in ‘Ron Artest’ and ‘Never Lose Me’ constitutes copyright infringement,” using “the Composition” to refer to the beat itself.
It said “Ron Artest” had earned more than 96 million Spotify streams, while six versions of “Never Lose Me”, including a remix featuring SZA and Cardi B, had together generated around 650 million. “Defendants are believed to have collectively received well over $1 million dollars to date from their exploitation of ‘Ron Artest’ and ‘Never Lose Me,’” the complaint claimed.
Deal sought damages of no less than US$1 million and an order barring the defendants from distributing or selling any track that incorporates his music.
The legal test for an exclusive license#
To sue, Deal needed to show he held a valid exclusive license. Under US copyright law, such a license must be in writing and signed by the rights owner or by someone authorized to act for them.
The judge quoted a 1990 ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, whose decisions bind federal courts in California: “The rule is really quite simple: If the copyright holder agrees to transfer ownership to another party, that party must get the copyright holder to sign a piece of paper saying so.”
Dispute over the electronic signature#
According to the order, Deal admitted that Gerreaux never physically signed an agreement granting him rights to the beat. He argued instead that Gerreaux had signed electronically, relying on a federal law that gives electronic signatures legal force.
Deal said he emailed Gerreaux in September 2019 to ask about buying an exclusive license, and that Gerreaux replied he would set the price at US$200. He said he then paid through Stripe, and that Traktrain sent him a confirmation reading: “you have purchased the exclusive rights.”
Days later, when Deal reminded Gerreaux to mark the beat as sold, Gerreaux allegedly replied: “didn’t see the notification because the payment was through Stripe, but yes! I just changed the status to sold!”
Traktrain also generated a written license naming Gerreaux as licensor and Deal as licensee, according to Deal. That document, however, was signed by Nick George, described in Deal’s latest complaint as Traktrain’s owner and operator. Sony, which brought the motion to dismiss, argued that Deal had not claimed George was authorized to sign on Gerreaux’s behalf.
Why the earlier complaint failed#
Earlier this year, in June, Judge Birotte dismissed an earlier version of the complaint over the unsigned license but allowed Deal to try again. The judge accepted that an electronic agreement can meet the signature requirement. However, he said nothing in the revised complaint showed that Gerreaux had signed or adopted that particular document.
“While the emails exchanged may support Plaintiff’s allegation that Gerreaux intended to sell the Beat exclusively to Plaintiff, they do not resolve the defect identified by the Court in the previous Order,” Judge Birotte wrote. “At most, the exchange reflects Gerreaux’s acknowledgment that Plaintiff had purchased the Beat and that its status on TrakTrain should be updated.
“That acknowledgment, however, is distinct from manifesting assent to the specific written instrument on which Plaintiff’s standing depends.”
The judge said Deal’s allegations about Gerreaux’s activity on Traktrain, including uploading the beat, listing it for exclusive license, setting the price and accepting payment, described at most “conduct consistent with using the TrakTrain platform.”
“Because Plaintiff concedes that there is no written license agreement with Gerreaux’ signature, and because Plaintiff failed to establish that Gerreaux plausibly adopted and executed the Agreement through his conduct, further amendment of the copyright infringement claims would be futile,” the order states.
Next steps#
The order gives the defendants 10 days to file a proposed judgment, after which Deal has five days to object. Unless the decision is overturned on appeal, it ends Deal’s copyright claims over both “Ron Artest” and “Never Lose Me”.
Deal’s lawyer, Larry Zerner, said Deal disagrees with the decision and plans to appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
