The complaint
Coran v. Perry, No. 2:26-cv-03285 (W.D. Tenn., Western Division), was filed September 28, 2026 (26 pages). The plaintiffs are Christy Coran, professionally known as Gangsta Gold, and Latonya Pierce, professionally known as MC Money, both of Shelby County, Tennessee. The defendant is Carlos Duan Perry, professionally known as DJ Sound, who the complaint alleges, on information and belief, also lives in Shelby County. Each plaintiff verified the complaint, and they demand a jury trial. A docket entry the same day adds District Judge Brian C. Lea and Magistrate Judge Annie T. Christoff. (Compl. caption; paras. 5 to 7; Verifications; ECF No. 2.)
What it alleges
The complaint alleges that in the 1990s the plaintiffs wrote and performed original lyrics and vocals on Da Hard Ov Frayser, an album Perry produced and recorded, that they were not his employees and signed no work-made-for-hire agreement or assignment, and that he gave them the master tape so they could manufacture and sell copies for their own account. It alleges that decades later phonk artists began sampling the recordings, and that Perry held himself out as the person able to clear the material, licensed it, and collected fees, publishing interests, and royalties without accounting for the plaintiffs' shares. It alleges, on information and belief, that in about February 2024 Perry signed an agreement with a music company covering at least thirty sample clearances, with a stated $100,000 nonrecoupable master-use fee and a fifty percent publishing interest in each covered new composition, and, on information and belief, that those publishing interests have yielded more than $150,000 in royalties. It also alleges, on information and belief, licensing to a phonk label and publishing administrator, and a 2024 commercial reissue of the album by a reissue label without the plaintiffs' approval. (Compl. paras. 1 to 3, 12 to 21, 24 to 45, 52 to 55.)
The complaint alleges that Perry acknowledged the plaintiffs were owed money and paid each of them partial amounts, totaling about $13,799.86 to Gangsta Gold and $13,647.90 to MC Money, and took part in a reconciliation that ended before a complete accounting. It alleges, on information and belief, that Perry later told music-industry participants he would make no further payments, which the plaintiffs say they learned in or about August 2026. They estimate their damages at no less than $500,000, subject to the accounting. (Compl. paras. 4, 46 to 62, 67.)
The counts and relief
Count I seeks a declaratory judgment of joint authorship and copyright co-ownership under 17 U.S.C. 101, 103(b), and 201(a) and 28 U.S.C. 2201 to 2202. Count II seeks an accounting and recovery of proceeds from jointly owned copyrights. Counts III to V plead breach of implied-in-fact contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment and money had and received. Count VI pleads false association and false endorsement under 15 U.S.C. 1125(a), and Count VII pleads common-law trademark infringement and unfair competition. The prayer asks for the declaration; damages; restitution and disgorgement in the alternative; a complete accounting; conveyance of each plaintiff's share of publishing interests and other non-cash consideration, with credit for prior payments; disclosure and remittance of future proceeds; a constructive trust or equitable lien; correction of copyright, performing rights organization, and publishing records; an injunction against using the plaintiffs' names, likenesses, or goodwill in a confusing manner; profits and costs under 15 U.S.C. 1117(a); corrective relief under 15 U.S.C. 1118; punitive damages to the extent permitted; and costs, interest, and fees. (Compl. Counts I to VII; Prayer i to xiv.)
On the docket
After the complaint, the docket shows a summons issued and returned executed, reports to the Register of Copyrights, and, on October 28, 2026, an order on a motion for miscellaneous relief. (Docket, ECF Nos. 1 to 13.)