French Montana Wins Major Copyright Battle In 7th Circuit Court

French Montana walked away with a courtroom win and his platinum plaque intact after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit tossed out a copyright infringement lawsuit tied to his 2013 single “Ain’t Worried About Nothin’.”

The legal dispute, filed by musician Eddie Richardson, accused the Bronx rapper of lifting elements from an instrumental Hip-Hop track without permission.

Richardson claimed French Montana’s team copied his composition, pointing to the use of “deep percussion, rhythmic snare” patterns that he believed were taken directly from his work.

But the appellate judges weren’t convinced. The court sided with Montana, stating there wasn’t enough evidence to show the rapper “duplicated the work as opposed to merely imitating it.”

That distinction proved critical, as copyright law requires a higher burden of proof for actual copying versus coincidental resemblance.

The court also noted that the musical elements Richardson cited were too generic to qualify for protection. Familiar sounds in Hip-Hop production, the judges concluded, can’t be locked down by a single artist.

“Ain’t Worried About Nothin’” was the lead single off Montana’s debut album, Excuse My French and it made a solid impact on the charts, peaking at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It later earned platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.