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Ten days after a copyright lawsuit was filed against Drake, alleging he stole the chorus of Janice STFU, the lawsuit has been voluntarily dismissed.<\/p>\n
It follows strenuous denials from Drake’s legal team \u2014 who refuted the claim from Aviel (Avi) Hirschfield,<\/a> a Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist and producer who had worked with Drake in the past.<\/p>\n Court documents obtained by CBC News show Hirschfield and his legal team have now withdrawn their case, “in its entirety without prejudice.”<\/p>\n Previously, on Oct. 16, Hirschfield claimed he was inspired to write the lyrics and melody use in Janice STFU while driving a loaned luxury Maybach to Seattle and listening to I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li, an artist Drake had sampled before.<\/p>\n Hirschfield then allegedly recorded a demo with his original vocals over an audio file produced by a duo known for their work with Drake, FnZ. He sent it to multiple people hoping it would get to Drake.<\/p>\n The now-dimissed lawsuit alleged Hirschfield heard the song Janice STFU much later and “was stunned to hear Drake perform word-for-word, note-for-note, the exact same chorus that he [Avi] had recorded and sent around to FnZ and other producers who work with Drake.”<\/p>\n The Toronto rapper’s team has always maintained these allegations were completely false.<\/p>\n Janice STFU debuted in May at No. 1 on<\/a> both the Billboard Global 200 and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The Iceman track is Drake’s 14th chart-topper and officially broke his tie<\/a> with Michael Jackson for the most No. 1 hits by a male solo artist.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Drake even held a series of parties to apologize to people named Janice<\/a> who had been hounded by the song.<\/p>\n Hirschfield was not given a co-writing credit and was denied a share of the song’s revenues. <\/p>\n Representatives for Drake said he has “no connection or knowledge” of Hirschfield, telling Billboard<\/a>, “Let us be absolutely clear: These allegations are categorically, unequivocally and completely denied. <\/p>\n “There is not one iota of truth to these accusations, and we reject every attempt to portray these claims as established facts.”<\/p>\n