United States District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall has put a pause on Yellowcard’s pending lawsuit against late rapper Juice WRLD. According to Pitchfork, who obtained court documents relating to the case, Marshall has ordered a stay until a representative for Juice WRLD’s estate is appointed.
Yellowcard originally filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit in October against Juice WRLD, claiming the rapper’s hit “Lucid Dreams” copied their 2006 song “Holly Wood Died.” Along with Juice WRLD (real name Jarad A. Higgins), the suit named as co-defendants “Lucid Dreams” co-writer Taz Taylor (real name Danny Lee Snodgress, Jr.) and producer Nick Mira, along with their respective publishing entities. BMG Rights Management, the song’s publisher, was also named, along with Juice WRLD’s record label, Grade A, and its parent company, Interscope. Yellowcard are seeking damages in excess of $15 million.
The suit hit a snag following the rapper’s death on December 8th. The day following his death Yellowcard made clear their intention to pursue the legal matter by extending a deadline for defendants to respond to the lawsuits from December 9th until February 4th, 2020. Marshall initially ordered both parties in the suit to notify the court whether “substitution of the proper party” would be necessary and the defendants are the ones who requested the stay. Now Marshall has set a deadline of April 13th for a status update on the probate proceedings, according to Pitchfork.
Last month, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office released the results of Juice WRLD’s autopsy, ruling his cause of death to be an accidental overdose. The autopsy determined that the 21-year-old rapper “died as a result of oxycodone and codeine toxicity.”