A copyright lawsuit filed on October 16 by attorneys Gregory Korn and Jonathan Steinsapir of Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir alleges that the chorus of Drake's track "Janice STFU" reproduces without attribution or payment a demo submitted by composer Aviel Calev Hirschfield to Drake's representatives in early 2026. The legal filing describes the two as "literally identical." The complaint, first obtained by a news outlet, forms the basis of the allegation that the hook was taken without credit or compensation.
"Janice STFU" held the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and occupied the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart for 20 weeks, the longest stretch Drake has held that ranking.
According to Hirschfield, the demo took shape across December 2025 and January 2026, built atop an audio bed he had obtained from the production pair Michael "Finatik" Mulé and Isaac "Zac" De Boni — the duo operating under the FNZ name, who have worked regularly with Drake. According to the lawsuit, Hirschfield structured the finished piece around a 2011 Lykke Li recording titled "I Follow Rivers," shaping it with Drake as the intended recipient — a targeting rooted in their prior collaboration as co-writers on "Heated," a track Beyoncé released in 2022. Once completed, the demo was forwarded to FNZ and other producers within Drake's circle, yet no reply came from any of them.
The lawsuit states that Hirschfield's first exposure to "Janice STFU" came when the album Iceman became available on streaming platforms, at which point he heard Drake delivering the chorus — the very vocal he had laid down and submitted — with the lyrics, melody, and rhythm intact.
FNZ hold co-writing credits on "Janice STFU," a track that also incorporates "I Follow Rivers" through interpolation. Hirschfield contends that the song's hook replicates — across both melody and lyrical content — a demo he produced containing the lines: "Reach me, baby / Call my phone and say you need me, baby / I'm so green, you gotta teach me, baby / From Vancouver, you a BC, baby / Pull up Maybach, beep beep, baby / And my shit came with the heat seats, baby / Swear my label gotta free me, baby / Blow on me just like some green tea, baby."
After the track's release, Hirschfield sought a co-writer credit and a portion of publishing revenues tied to "Janice STFU." Drake's legal team did not acknowledge his authorship, instead taking the position that Drake wrote the chorus on his own — a stance they maintained even after Hirschfield submitted stems and metadata as supporting documentation. The lawsuit states that Drake and his representatives have asserted that Hirschfield altered recording file metadata to create a false impression that his copyrighted material predated "Janice STFU." The filing further notes that such a deception would amount to career suicide on Hirschfield's part. The filing describes Hirschfield as a longtime admirer of Drake who previously co-wrote a charting song with him and hopes to work with him again.
Hirschfield has brought copyright infringement claims against Drake, OVO Sound, Universal Music Group, and its affiliated entities Republic Records and Universal Music Publishing Group. The filing claims Hirschfield is owed a portion of revenue generated by "Janice STFU," contending that Drake took credit for contributions that entitled Hirschfield to both financial compensation and reputational recognition. A representative for Drake chose not to address the matter. No response to the request for comment had been received from UMG representatives by the time of publication.
