Jason Derulo Wins ‘Savage Love’ Copyright Trial: Session Guitarist Can’t Get Royalties

Jason Derulo has emerged victorious in a copyright trial over the writing and production credits on his 2020 chart-topper “Savage Love.”

A jury in Los Angeles handed down a verdict on Thursday (May 7) rejecting the claims brought by session musician Matthew Spatola against Derulo and Columbia Records. This means Spatola won’t recover any royalties from “Savage Love,” a viral TikTok hit from August 2020 that later hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to a remix featuring BTS.

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

Spatola, who played guitar and bass on “Savage Love,” argued during the two-week trial that he also had a hand in crafting the instrumentals and was thus entitled to writing and production splits. Derulo denied this, testifying in court that Spatola just played what he was told and “created absolutely nothing” for the song.

The case, which has been making its way through the court system since 2023, highlighted the prevalence — and potential pitfalls — of informal dealings between artists and their musical collaborators. It is undisputed that Spatola was paid a $2,000 fee for two studio sessions in April 2020. But it’s also undisputed that he and Derulo never formally signed a so-called work-for-hire agreement.

Under copyright law, a work-for-hire agreement confirms that a musician does not have authorship rights despite contributing to a song. In this case, no such deal was signed; Derulo merely texted Spatola after the fact, asking, “1K good each day?”

Spatola alleged that the absence of work-for-hire paperwork was proof that he was more than just a session musician. Derulo countered that these forms just fell through the cracks because “Savage Love” was recorded at the height of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions, “so the people that would typically be in place to give him an agreement just weren’t there.”

Jurors ultimately sided with Derulo after deliberating for just over a day, finding that Spatola hadn’t proved he was a joint author of either the “Savage Love” composition or master recording. They did not give any explanation for their verdict, as is typical.