Missy Elliott Settles Long-Running Lawsuit From Alleged 1990s Co-Writer Just Before Trial

Missy Elliott has reached a settlement with a music producer who claimed to have co-written several of her songs from the 1990s, ending a long-running legal dispute just as a jury trial was about to begin.

The agreement, struck Friday (Aug. 22) in a Philadelphia federal courtroom, will end a lawsuit filed by Terry Williams, who claims he and Elliott collaborated on numerous songs in the 1990s but that she refused to credit him as a co-writer.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed in court filings, but Elliott’s attorney Mike Trauben shared details with Billboard. “No money was paid in connection with any of Terry Williams’ claims, the last remnants of which were dismissed,” Trauben said in an email.

Trauben said a “small sum” had been paid to purchase beats created by Williams that were used in songs otherwise created and owned by Elliott. “Missy’s writings in her notebooks were returned back to her,” Trauben said, “along with all her music that he had in storage.”

Williams did not return a request for comment on Friday.

The lawsuit, which has been making its way through the court system since 2018, centers on the R&B girl group SISTA, where Elliott got her start before breaking out as a solo artist in the late 1990s. 

Williams, a music producer who once owned a Philadelphia recording studio, claimed that he and Elliott co-wrote four songs off Sista’s 1994 album 4 All the Sistas Around da World. He alleged that Elliott unfairly left him off the songwriting credits, and was seeking through the lawsuit to get back royalties stretching to the 1994 album release. 

Elliott, meanwhile, maintained throughout the case that Williams “did not write a single lyric or in any manner contribute to any of the songs” off 4 All the Sistas Around da World. Elliott said she did not even meet Williams until after she’d delivered the album to Elektra Records.

Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro ruled last year that due to these conflicting narratives, the lawsuit could only be resolved by a jury weighing the evidence and deciding who to believe. But the judge threw out an additional claim from Williams that alleged he and Elliott also co-wrote the 1996 Aaliyah song “Heartbroken,” saying this part of the case was barred by the statute of limitations.

Williams’ lawsuit also targeted Timbaland, who produced 4 All the Sistas Around da World, as well as Elektra, Atlantic Records, Warner Music Group and Reservoir Media. Those claims were all paused until the outcome of the Elliott trial, and they still remain pending.