Miami Rap Duo Home Team Sues Jermaine Dupri, Jacquees Over ‘Pick It Up’ Copyright

Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees are at the center of a federal copyright lawsuit brought by brothers Patrick and Van Watler of the ’90s Miami rap duo Home Team, who allege the artists’ 2023 “Pick It Up” infringes their 1992 composition of the same name. 

More than three decades after Miami rap duo Home Team told listeners to “Pick It Up,” the group says
Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees picked up too much.

Brothers Patrick and Van Watler have sued Dupri, Jacquees and Mass Appeal Media Inc. in federal court, alleging the 2023 Jermaine Dupri single “Pick It Up,” featuring Jacquees, infringes their 1992 song of the same name.

The lawsuit, filed Sept. 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges the newer recording copies protected lyrics and musical elements from Home Team’s song without permission.

Neither the allegations nor the songs’ shared title establishes copyright infringement, and the court has not ruled on the Watlers’ claims. The defendants had not filed a substantive response to the complaint as of Tuesday.

The dispute reaches back to Miami’s early-1990s rap scene.

Home Team released its “Pick It Up” through Luke Records, the label founded by Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell and closely associated with the rise of Miami bass. Campbell was credited as an executive producer on the duo’s 1992 album, “Via Satellite From Saturn.”

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Home Team — “Pick It Up” (1992)

The Luke Records single at the center of Patrick and Van Watler’s copyright lawsuit was released more than three decades before Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees’ recording of the same name.

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The song reached Billboard’s Hot 100 in December 1992, peaking at No. 90. It also appeared on Billboard’s R&B and rap charts.

Federal copyright records identify Patrick and Van Watler as the writers of the composition’s words and music. The work, registration No. PA0000858142, is listed as having been created in 1992, published Aug. 4 of that year and registered in 1997. Lil’ Joe Wein Music Inc. is identified as the copyright claimant in the registration record.

The lawsuit gives a slightly different date, saying Home Team released the song on or around July 3, 1992.

Thirty-one years later, Dupri released another “Pick It Up,” featuring Jacquees.

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Jermaine Dupri feat. Jacquees — “Pick It Up” (2023)

Jermaine Dupri featuring Jacquees, “Pick It Up.” Official video via Jermaine Dupri/Mass Appeal.

The 2023 recording was produced by Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox and released through Mass Appeal. Its official video features Dupri and Jacquees moving through Atlanta locations while Jacquees handles the record’s sung vocals.

The Watlers contend the similarities go beyond the title.

Their complaint alleges the newer “Pick It Up” reproduces protectable elements of Home Team’s lyrics and melody or harmony. It says the defendants did not seek or receive a license, permission or clearance to use the earlier composition.

The lawsuit, however, does not identify in its 12 pages the particular lyric, melodic phrase or harmonic passage the brothers contend was copied.

Instead, the Watlers allege that the two works are substantially similar and say the defendants have profited from the newer recording.

The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that the defendants have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from sales, streaming, licensing and other exploitation of the 2023 song. It does not provide royalty statements or other financial records supporting that figure.

The brothers are asking for considerably more than a single damages award.

Their complaint seeks an accounting of revenue connected to the newer song, songwriter credit and publishing percentages, as well as damages, attorneys’ fees and an injunction.

The prayer for relief asks for more than $150,000 in what the lawsuit describes as general damages and more than $150,000 in special damages. It also requests statutory damages under federal copyright law and additional relief against Mass Appeal.

The Watlers further want Dupri, Jacquees and the other defendants to recognize them as writers of the allegedly infringing material and to direct third parties under their control to update the song’s credits accordingly.

They have requested a jury trial.

The case is Watler et al. v. Mauldin et al., No. 1:26-cv-26546, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Summonses were issued Sept. 22 for Dupri, whose legal name is Jermaine Dupri Mauldin; Jacquees, whose legal name is Rodriguez Jacquees Broadnax; and Mass Appeal Media.