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Source: https://genius.com/a/ariana-grande-nicki-mi...ct-of-a-lawsuit

Texas producer Christopher Ryan O’Connor alleges that the song copies his track “J5 (T6).

Ariana Grande’s 2016 hit “Side to Side” with Nicki Minaj is the latest song to be hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit. According to The Wrap, musician Christopher Ryan O’Connor filed the complaint in Texas federal court on Thursday alleging the track “essentially is my song ‘J5 (T6)’ with a vocal performance from both Ariana Grande [and] Nicki Minaj added to it.” The lawsuit is filed against UMG Recordings and doesn’t name Grande or Minaj as defendants.

TMZ reports that O'Connor believes a UMG Recordings executive discovered his song and then had Grande and Minaj “copy it.” The producer also claims that he reached out to UMG about the alleged copyright violation and was instructed to send a demo of his song, but the label ultimately didn’t address his accusation. O'Connor believes UMG has also copied his work to create songs for artists such as Mike Shinoda and Taylor Swift.

“Side to Side” is produced by pop hitmaker Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh. Martin and Salmanzadeh are also listed in the songwriting credits alongside Grande and Minaj, with additional help from Alexander Kronlund and Savan Kotecha. Released as the third single from Grande’s third studio album Dangerous Woman, it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

O'Connor wants the court to order UMG to give him royalties and a songwriting credit going forward, as well as “retroactively pay me royalties for my role in the composition … in proportion to my artistic contributions to it.” According to the complaint, he believes a favorable judgment will “result in a sum of money transferred to me that is over $10,000.”