A federal trial over authorship and royalty claims tied to the 2020 hit "Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)" opened in Los Angeles on Monday, with Jason Derulo appearing as a defendant and guitarist-producer Matthew Spatola taking the stand as the first witness.
On opening day jurors were shown a recorded 2024 deposition of Derulo, filmed in a plain office setting, in which the singer demonstrated how he says he directed key musical elements of the track. In the deposition Derulo responded to questioning by performing vocal approximations of guitar and bass parts that he says he communicated to collaborators during early recording sessions in April 2020.
The heart of the case is whether Spatola is entitled to co-writing credit and a share of publishing royalties for the chart-topping single. Spatola’s lawsuit, filed in 2023, seeks a declaratory judgment recognizing him as a co-author of the song; he says he helped compose a key pre-chorus section and shaped the song’s instrumental bed during two in-person sessions at Derulo’s home studio and that he never signed an agreement relinquishing rights to authorship or royalties.
Spatola’s lawyer, Thomas Werge, told jurors in opening statements that the work Spatola performed went beyond casual studio help. Werge said Spatola was responsible for composing the pre-chorus and for developing the song’s instrumental bed, and he argued that simply vocalizing a melody is not the same as composing multi-note instrumental arrangements for an instrument such as the guitar.
Defense attorney Howard King Rosenberg countered by saying Joshua Christian Nanai, known as Jawsh 685, was the primary creative force behind the track and that any contributions Spatola made were minor and did not amount to authorship. Rosenberg also told the court that performing or assisting in studio sessions does not by itself create a right to songwriting credit.
The song itself was built on a viral beat originally created by Jawsh 685 titled "Laxed," which gained traction on TikTok before becoming the foundation of "Savage Love." Finalized credits list Jawsh 685 as the sole producer. Publishing rights were divided among Joshua Christian Nanai at 50 percent, Jason Derulo at 25 percent, Jacob Kasher Hindlin at 20 percent and Paul Greiss at 5 percent; Matthew Spatola is not included in the credits.
Werge cited passages from Derulo’s 2023 memoir, Sing Your Name Out Loud, noting Derulo’s own description of releasing his version of "Savage Love" online before securing formal agreements with Nanai. The memoir, Werge said, records that Derulo posted the track despite advice from his manager and subsequent objections from Columbia Records, which had signed Nanai at the time.
Spatola testified about his early musical training and career on the witness stand. He described learning guitar as a child, later touring with artists such as The Weeknd and Kehlani, and ultimately moving into production work. He also acknowledged receiving a $2,000 payment for his studio work and told the court he had not signed any document that would have transferred authorship or publishing rights.
The trial’s opening day set up a clear factual collision: Derulo’s deposition and his account of directing parts of the track versus Spatola’s testimony that he composed and developed important sections during two sessions and received only a modest payment. The documentary record — published credits and the allocation of publishing shares — favors the current credits list, while Spatola’s testimony and Werge’s framing challenge whether the credits reflect who actually authored key elements.
The central question for jurors now is narrow and legally decisive: did Spatola’s in-person contributions in April 2020 amount to joint authorship under copyright law — enough to overturn the finalized publishing split and add him to the songwriting credits? The answer, not the publicity the song enjoyed, will determine whether Spatola is entitled to a share of the royalties he seeks.
