Jason Derulo Wins ‘Savage Love’ Copyright Trial; Session Guitarist Denied Royalties

Jason Derulo walked out of a Los Angeles courtroom on May 7 with a clear win: a jury rejected a session musician’s bid to claim writing and production credits on the 2020 smash “Savage Love,” meaning no additional royalties for the guitarist who played on the track.

Jason Derulo attends Netflix’s “Swapped” World Premiere at Netflix Tudum Theater on April 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images for Netflix

The suit, brought by session musician Matthew Spatola, centered on whether his guitar and bass work on the August 2020 TikTok viral sensation amounted to authorship that would entitle him to writing and production splits. Derulo and Columbia Records were the defendants; the song later climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after a remix featuring BTS.

Spatola, who performed on the track during two studio sessions in April 2020, argued during the two-week trial that he helped craft the instrumental elements and should be treated as a co-writer and co-producer. It is undisputed that he was paid a $2,000 fee for those sessions. What was disputed was whether that contribution rose to the level of joint authorship.

A rep for Spatola declined to comment after the verdict. Reps for Derulo and Columbia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Derulo testified that Spatola “created absolutely nothing” for the song, and that he had simply played what he was told.

The absence of a signed work-for-hire agreement between the parties became a key battleground. Under copyright law, a work-for-hire agreement establishes that a hired musician does not hold authorship rights even if they contribute to a recording. Spatola pointed to the lack of that paperwork as evidence he was more than a hired player. Derulo countered that the paperwork was never completed because “Savage Love” was recorded amid COVID-19 quarantine restrictions, when “the people that would typically be in place to give him an agreement just weren’t there.” He also texted Spatola afterward asking, “1K good each day?” — a message the defense used to underscore the pay-for-session nature of the arrangement.

Jurors deliberated for just over a day before finding that Spatola had not proved joint authorship of either the composition or the master recording. As is typical, they offered no public explanation for their decision.

The verdict closes a case that has threaded through the courts since 2023 and underscores how informal studio dealings—especially those hatched in pandemic-era chaos—can lead to years of litigation. For fans, the ruling affirms the official credits on a song that exploded on social media and in charts worldwide. For musicians and producers, it is a reminder about paperwork: sometimes a signed line is the difference between a session fee and a share of a hit.

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