Mike Tyson lawsuit

Mike Tyson, who’s jointly dismissed a ‘Murdergram’ copyright lawsuit with prejudice. Photo Credit: The Sun

Six weeks later, producer Tyrone Fyffe’s copyright infringement complaint against Mike Tyson has officially concluded.

Counsel for the plaintiff (who’s also known as Sugarless) and Iron Mike confirmed as much in a brief filing that hit the docket today. Both sides specifically described the action as “dismissed with prejudice with each party bearing their own attorneys’ fees” – albeit without exploring the circumstances surrounding the development.

As such, it’s unclear whether they quickly negotiated a settlement or whether there’s a different reason behind the dismissal. DMN reached out to Fyffe’s attorneys, Tyson’s lawyers, and Fyffe himself for comment but didn’t immediately receive a response.

Furthermore, as we reported last month, the actual suit centered on the allegedly unauthorized use of Murder Inc.’s “Murdergram” (which Fyffe produced and co-wrote) in an Instagram video promoting Tyson’s November 2024 fight with Jake Paul.

But at the time of the complaint’s filing, the relevant post, published one week ahead of the bout, had already been deleted. Of course, if it’d only recently been pulled, we might be better able to connect the dismissal dots.

Nevertheless, we aren’t without a bit of pertinent knowledge here. As covered by live-results blogs and still shown in lingering clips of the original walkouts, Tyson made his way to the ring while “Murdergram” played.

(Though licensed for use during the live event proper, both the track and Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” which played during Paul’s walkout, have been replaced in the on-demand replay. Long story short, syncing the tracks in the version currently available on Netflix would require different, more expensive licenses.)

The suit doesn’t seem to have mentioned this point, which, while not indicative of authorization to use the work on Instagram, is worth keeping in mind. So are the optics associated with litigating against Iron Mike; Jay-Z, Ja Rule, and the late DMX co-wrote “Murdergram,” which appeared in 1998’s Streets Is Watching, but weren’t parties to the complaint.

Bringing the focus back to licensing, as others have found out through comparatively involved and multifaceted cases, songs available via platforms like Instagram are cleared for personal but not commercial use.

Just in passing, social-focused infringement litigation is ongoing against Crumbl and Designer Shoe Warehouse; various NBA teams, Chili’s parent Brinker International, and Marriott are among the entities that have moved beyond separate-but-similar copyright confrontations.