The outro on Pop Smoke's posthumous debut studio album Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon contains a recording of an interview with the rapper but, apparently, the journalist who conducted the conversation did not sign off on the use of her voice for profit. It's coming back to bite Pop's estate as Victoria Inoyo has officially filed a lawsuit against his label for using her Rolling Loud interview on the album without her permission after she initially turned down a $1 offer.
According to AllHipHop, Inoyo was contacted by Pop Smoke's team at Victor Victor Worldwide to ask for permission to use her December 2019 interview with the rapper on the album. She was reportedly offered $1 (yes, one whole dollar) to use the interview, which she turned down with the intention to renegotiate. Negotiations reportedly fell through between her lawyers and Victor Victor. Because they never reached a deal, Inoyo was surprised to hear her interview on the album's final cut and she's suing as a result.
Inoyo claims that 12% of the song, which roughly translates to 16 seconds of "Tunnel Vision", were illegally stripped from her as she filed for a copyright on the interview at the beginning of this year.
"The label knew that it did not have Ms. Inoyo’s permission to use the interview; yet, rather than negotiate with Ms. Inoyo in good-faith in order to obtain her permission to use the interview, the label inexcusably and unjustifiably used the interview and released the album and the song for commercial distribution in violation of, among other things, Ms. Inoyo’s copyrights and her intellectual property," reportedly said Inoyo's lawyer in a statement.
Inoyo is seeking credit as a writer on the album, and a percentage of the royalties.
