Lizzo has reached a settlement in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against her over an unreleased song snippet that referenced a Sydney Sweeney-fronted American Eagle jeans ad.
The GRC Trust, a Georgia-based revocable trust, filed the lawsuit against Lizzo (real name Melissa Jefferson) in federal court just three months ago, in October.
A notice of settlement was filed in federal court in California on Friday (January 9).
The notice, which you can read here, states that the parties have reached a “settlement in principle to resolve all claims” and expect to file a dismissal with prejudice within 60 days.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the court filing. A dismissal with prejudice means the case is permanently closed and cannot be refiled.
The lawsuit alleged that Lizzo’s track, known alternately as I’m Goin’ In Till October or Good Jeans, sampled without permission the 1970 song Win Or Lose (We Tried) by soul singer and songwriter Sam Dees.
It claimed that Lizzo’s work “incorporates, interpolates, and samples instrumental and vocal elements” of the Dees composition.
Lizzo circulated the snippet on TikTok and Instagram during summer 2025.
The track gained attention through its reference to Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign, which sparked controversy over its catchphrase “Sydney Sweeney has good jeans,” seen as a pun on “genes.”
Lizzo’s track included the lyric “Bitch, I got good jeans like I’m Sydney.”
At the time the lawsuit was filed, a representative for Lizzo told BBC News and Bloomberg Law they were “surprised” by the action, noting that the song “has never been commercially released or monetized, and no decision has been made at this time regarding any future commercial release.”
The GRC Trust’s complaint had sought an injunction to prevent further use of the track, along with damages for “all of defendants’ profits plus all GRC’s losses,” plus attorneys’ fees and court costs.
The trust stated in its original filing that it had attempted an “informal resolution” but talks “reached an impasse.”
The original filing can be read in full here.
This marks a relatively quick resolution to the dispute, settling in less than three months.
By comparison, a previous copyright case involving Lizzo took significantly longer to resolve. In 2019, the singer faced a lawsuit over her hit track Truth Hurts from songwriters who claimed their work on another song, Healthy, was used without credit. The case was dismissed in 2022 after the parties involved reached an out-of-court settlement.
This is not the only copyright lawsuit filed by GRC Trust recently. In September, the trust sued Kanye West, alleging that West’s track LORD LIFT ME UP sampled Sam Dees’ 1975 song Just Out Of My Reach.
Music Business Worldwide