Mr. Vegas Reaches Settlement With VP Records In Lawsuit Over His Biggest Hits

Mr. Vegas and Reggae label VP Records have reached a settlement to avoid going to trial in a copyright infringement and breach of contract lawsuit over several of the Dancehall artist’s biggest hit songs, DancehallMag has learned.

On Wednesday, November 30, during a video settlement conference, legal representatives of the two parties told a judge that they had finally reached a settlement in the suit, which also accused VP Records of unfair competition and unjust enrichment. 

Mr. Vegas, whose real name is Clifford Smith, and VP executives Chris and Randy Chin were among those present at the conference. 

Specifics of the agreement and terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The parties are expected to jointly file a “stipulation of dismissal” by January 12, 2023, which will formally indicate to the New York Court that they have amicably resolved the dispute. 

Vegas had filed the lawsuit in November 2020, over songs such as Heads High (1997) and its Kill ‘Em Wid it Re-mix (1998), Sucky Ducky (1998), Hot Wuk (2006), and Gallis (2009).  The suit also involved four songs from Sean Paul’s debut album Stage One (2000), namely Haffi Get De Gal Ya (Hot Gal Today), Tiger Bone, and the skit Nicky, all of which featured Mr. Vegas, and Check It Deeply, which was produced by Mr. Vegas.

Collectively the songs, which are between one to two decades old, still bring in approximately 35,000 USD per year in revenue, according to court filings.

In the 35-page complaint, Vegas accused VP of infringing on his Heads High copyright, as well as his copyright for the Heads High video.  He also contended that VP infringed on his copyrights when it included Heads High, Hot Gal Today, and/or Gallis on several compilation albums.

With regards to Gallis, Sucky Ducky, and Hot Wuk, Mr. Vegas also alleged that the label infringed on his copyright and also breached the contract when it “held itself out as acting as a fiduciary” of Vegas for the collection of royalties on those songs, based on a “purported extension of the assigned contract.”

The artist had also claimed that the company allegedly “breached their duty” to him “by fraudulently concealing and/or converting” the royalties for the three songs.

Mr. Vegas had also alleged that VP, which released Sean Paul’s Stage One album in partnership with Universal, had infringed on his copyright when they supposedly failed to obtain his permission to use “his composition, production, performance, brand, sound or likeness” in the four songs that he contributed to on the album. 

He also claimed that he has never received royalties for his contributions to Sean Paul’s 25-track album, which, according to the complaint, has sold over 500,000 records in the United States.

In response to the lawsuit, VP, among other things, argued that they either owned or had licensed the right to sell and market the songs from Jamaican producers, including Danny Browne (Heads High), Shaun “DJ Chrome” Chablal (Gallis), and Steely and Clevie (Hot Gal Today). 

VP had also filed a motion to dismiss Vegas’ claims in their entirety. 

They argued, among other things, that several songs, including Heads High, Hot Wuk and Gallis, were only registered by Mr. Vegas with the US Copyright Office in late 2021, one year after the lawsuit was originally filed—which, according to them, is contrary to US State law and grounds for the copyright lawsuit to be completely dismissed.

Vegas had also accused VP of breach of a contract between himself and Greensleeves Records.  Under that contract, Heads High and its remix appeared on Vegas’ 20-track Heads High album, which was released via Greensleeves in 1998.

Greensleeves was later acquired by VP Records in 2008.

In his complaint, Vegas alleged that prior to the acquisition, Greensleeves paid and accounted for the royalties for the two versions of Heads High. “However since the Acquisition, the Greensleeves’ royalty statements no longer include royalties for the Records,” the complaint noted.

VP argued that they were not a party to that contract.