Talks about a family feud. Mega producer Teddy Riley is suing his own daughter over a song he crafted for Lady Gaga.
It all started when Lady Gaga spoke with Riley about an idea she had for a song that was then called “Show Me Your Teeth.” Eventually the track appeared on Gaga’s Monster album as a song called “Teeth,” giving Teddy Riley credit as the music composer with lyrics written by Lady Gaga.
Riley’s 21-year-old daughter Taja Riley had been eager to break into the music business. She approached her father about gifting her a songwriting credit as he had done for her older sister Deja Riley.
Well, according to Teddy Riley his daughter jumped the gun and took credit for writing “Teeth,” claiming co-writing credit and a 25 percent interest in the song. This led to Taja inking a deal with EMI Music Publishing and EMI Virgin Music, reports Black America Web.
Now daddy is so mad he has filed a lawsuit against Taja in California federal court for claiming a songwriting credit and partial ownership of a song that he says he developed with Gaga – and that Taja had absolutely nothing to do with, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In the complaint Riley says his daughter was “desirous of starting her own career in the music and entertainment business” and that “after completion of the [“Teeth”] song, and its selection for inclusion as a track on Lady Gaga’s album, he and Taja had a discussion about whether he would be willing to similarly gift a songwriting credit to Taja Riley to assist her in starting her musical and entertainment career as well,” writes Black America Web.
Riley states in the lawsuit that his daughter “did not participate in any way in the creation of the composition, and did not own any rights whatsoever to The Song.” He is also upset with EMI for not checking with him first, so he is also suing EMI and Sony/ATV (whose now owns EMI’s publishing division) along with his daughter for copyright infringement, fraudulent copyright registration, unfair competition, and accounting issues.
Riley is seeking statutory damages for willful infringement and an injunction. We’re also curious about this claim towards the top that this is something that Riley did for his other daughter.
According to the website, Teddy and his daughter Taja have a contentious relationship. In December 2009, he was accused of violently attacking his daughter with a guitar from the video game Rock Band. Taja was granted a temporary restraining order against her father, who was ordered to stay 100 yards from his daughter.
