Producer Aviel Hirschfield dropped his copyright lawsuit against Drake over “Janice STFU” on Tuesday, Oct. 27. He walked away 11 days after he filed and gave no public reason.
Aviel Hirschfield Drops The Drake Janice STFU Lawsuit
Court documents filed Tuesday show Hirschfield voluntarily dismissed the entire case without prejudice, according to Complex and Baller Alert. That wording lets him refile later. Rolling Stone, as relayed by iHeart, reported the dismissal first. Complex lists the defendants as Drake, OVO Sound, and UMG. No court ruled on whether Drake copied anything.
The outlets count the gap differently. Baller Alert and Hollywood Unlocked say the case ended 11 days after an Oct. 16 filing. The iHeart summary of Rolling Stone says the complaint went in 10 days earlier and calls it just over a week. Either way, the suit lasted less than two weeks. Hirschfield’s side offered little. Before the dismissal, his representative told Rolling Stone that the complaint spoke for itself. Complex says his lawyer declined to comment after the withdrawal. Nobody explained why the case ended.
What The Janice STFU Complaint Claimed
Hirschfield, a producer and rapper who goes by Avi, said he wrote the chorus between December 2025 and January 2026. Baller Alert reports he drew inspiration from Lykke Li’s 2011 song “I Follow Rivers” and recorded vocals over an instrumental from the production duo FnZ. He said he finished the recording around Jan. 25 and sent it to FnZ and other producers tied to Drake. He heard nothing back.
Then Drake released the album Iceman in May. According to the iHeart summary, Hirschfield said he heard the song and found no credit for himself. The complaint called the similarities word for word, note for note, and beat for beat. Hollywood Unlocked says the filing pointed to eight lines that match almost exactly.
A new development arrived Oct. 19, three days after the filing. An alleged original reference recording surfaced online. Baller Alert reports that Hirschfield’s representative told Pitchfork the recording matched the evidence in the suit, and that his team said multiple experts found its metadata legitimate. That claim now stays untested, because the case ended before any court reviewed it.
The sequence stands out. The complaint went in Oct. 16. The reference recording surfaced Oct. 19. The withdrawal followed Oct. 27, eight days after the recording appeared online. None of the reports describe a hearing, a ruling, or a court filing from Drake’s lawyers during that stretch. The record shows only a filing, a public debate, and a dismissal.
Drake’s Team Fires Back At The Allegations
Drake’s camp denied everything. According to Rolling Stone’s report, his representative said the claims were “categorically, unequivocally, and completely denied.” Complex adds a sharper line from the same camp: the suit was a manufactured and baseless attempt to profit from Drake’s success, and Drake wrote the song with no knowledge of Hirschfield.
Hollywood Unlocked reports that Drake’s representatives also questioned whether Hirschfield’s evidence was fabricated or manipulated. The outlet did not publish a response from Hirschfield on that point.
Public doubt may have played a role. Rolling Stone notes that a blogger’s side-by-side comparison of the two choruses led fans to question the case, though the outlet does not link that to the withdrawal. Complex also says many social media commentators challenged the claims.
The song carries real commercial weight, which explains the stakes. Complex reports “Janice STFU” spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and has charted for 23 weeks. It now sits at No. 24. Baller Alert says Hirschfield sought damages and profits tied to the disputed composition. Other Drake Legal Fights Still In Play
Background, dated Oct. 26 and outside the 24-hour window: Baller Alert reported that U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton dismissed a proposed class action with prejudice. Rapper RBX, whose legal name is Eric Dwayne Collins, sued Spotify in November 2025. He focused on about 37 billion streams of Drake’s music between January 2022 and September 2025. Drake was not a defendant, and the ruling did not decide whether fraudulent streaming happened. Spotify denies benefiting from artificial streams.
A separate Virginia case still sits on the docket. Baller Alert says it names Drake and streamer Adin Ross and alleges a scheme involving the gambling platform Stake.us. Judge Leonie Brinkema paused that case on July 30, pending arbitration between the plaintiffs and Stake. All allegations in that case remain unproven. Watch whether Hirschfield refiles. A dismissal without prejudice leaves that door open, and his team has not said what comes next. Drake’s side has not said whether it will seek anything further.
