Post Malone Settles ‘Circles’ Copyright Suit

Austin Richard Post, better known as the famous Post Malone, is known for many things. Settling copyright suits is probably not one of them. The American rapper, who was once declared the musician with the most streams on Spotify, has now settled a lawsuit after a lot of debates and debacles over his song Circles. The singer-songwriter is famous for mixing up genres and his unique set of vocals, which are often covered under thick layers of auto-tune. 

He first became popular when his song White Iverson went up to number 14 on the Billboards hot 100 charts. Since then, the artist has created hits like Rockstar, Psycho, and one of his most recent ones, Circles. Only two of these songs have no lawsuits against them. Hint: It’s not the first two. Circles came out in 2019 and were one of the longest-lasting songs on the charts. Like his previous projects, his album Hollywood is Bleeding was also a success, but it was short-lived.

The Lawsuit

Tyler Armes, a Canadian artist associated with a band called Down with Webster, accused Malone of unlawfully discrediting him for his work. Armes claimed that he wasn’t just some random fellow hanging out in the recording room, that he was a co-writer and co-producer of Circles. He claimed to have come with most of the music and was only given the offer of about 5% royalties from the earnings.

“I was beside him giving input,” Armes wrote to Dre London, Post Malone’s manager. “I was not just someone hanging out in the room, I’m a writer/producer in the room with two other writer/producers working on a song.” 

In spite of all this, his work was used, and he had to resort to taking Malone to court. Malone’s manager London was also accused of forcing the royalties on him and trying to shut down the negotiations, and withdrawing the offer if Armes didn’t take it. Hence, a lawsuit was filed. Armes also claimed to have written the keyboard chords, helped with the guitar as well as significantly influenced the bassline used in the song.

How would such a trial proceed? It was decided that the trial would feature artists playing and performing the song in court in order for the court to decide. Malone would also be present and testify in court. District Judge Otis Wright ruled that Armes had “no claim of authorship in the commercial release” of the song but that he “demonstrates genuine disputes in regard to his authorship in the session composition.”

Malone argued that while Armes was present in the room that day, he had no hand in the future complete record that was finally released in 2019. He also said that Armes was not around for future recording sessions. He also said that the Canadian artist did not write anything for the song. 

“It is an age-old story in the music business that when a song earns the type of runaway success that ‘Circles’ has garnered,” said Malone’s complaint, “an individual will come out of the woodwork, falsely claim to take credit for the song, and demand unwarranted and unearned windfall profits from the song,” 

Now, sources confirm that Malone has actually settled the suit. The law is not letting out any new details about the case, and no one is sure what happened to the popular record. Many fans would love the idea of the music still sticking to Malone, as he’s the one who finished and released the song. As for Tyler Arnes, his lawyers have refused to comment on the situation, and further details are awaited.