Timbaland Wins Lawsuit Over Michael Jackson’s Song ‘Chicago’

Timbaland won a legal battle against a songwriter who claims he stole his song and used it for a Michael Jackson posthumous project.

According to Jasmine BRAND, a musician named Sidney Swanson filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against MJJ Productions, which oversees all of the late King of Pop’s music, as well as Timbaland and Sony Music.

In his suit, Swanson claims that he released a song titled “On the Move” back in 2002 and accused Timbaland of stealing it for the song “Chicago,” which appears on Michael Jackson’s posthumous 2014 album, Xscape.

Swanson was seeking damages for the copyright infringement along with an injunction against MJJ Productions, Timbaland and Sony from distributing the song.

The veteran hitmaker countersued and denied all the allegations that he stole Swanson’s tune. Timbo insists that he created the “Chicago” track by himself and since the musician doesn’t own a valid copyright to his 2002 song, he can’t sue for infringement.

On March 24, Swanson filed documents to dismiss his lawsuit and agreed to not seek monies from Timbaland and the other parties involved for his court fees. Furthermore, Swanson was not paid by anyone to drop the case.

Attorneys for Timbaland had no comment on the matter.