Title: Derulo Faces Lawsuit Over Songwriting Credits as Trial Opens on “Critical Pre-Hook” Claim

Jurors heard opening statements on April 23, 2026, in a Los Angeles County Superior Court trial where music producer and guitarist Jacobi “Jake” Moreno alleges he co-wrote the foundational pre-hook melody of Jason Derulo’s 2020 global hit “Savage Love (Baxter & Beat)” but was excluded from songwriting credits and royalties. The case centers on whether Moreno’s contribution constitutes a legally protectable musical composition under U.S. Copyright law.

According to court filings reviewed by News Directory 3, Moreno claims he created the distinctive four-note ascending vocal phrase — “Oh no, oh no, oh no no no” — during a 2019 studio session in Atlanta with Derulo and producer Joshua “JK” Kashani. Moreno states he recorded a voice memo of the melody on his phone after the session and shared it with Kashani, who later incorporated it into the track’s instrumental backbone without crediting him as a writer.

Derulo’s legal team, led by attorney Lisa Chen of Greene & Associates, opened by asserting that the pre-hook melody is a common musical motif derived from traditional Polynesian chants and was independently developed by Kashani and Derulo during the song’s creation. They submitted session logs, stem files, and timestamped DAW project screenshots showing the melody was constructed from a drum loop processed through a granular synthesizer, not from Moreno’s alleged voice memo.

Moreno’s counsel, represented by entertainment litigator Daniel Reeves of Reeves & Vaughn, countered that the voice memo contains unique rhythmic inflections and harmonic nuances not present in any public domain source. They submitted a forensic musicology report by Dr. Elena Vassilev of Berklee College of Music, which concluded that the probability of independent creation matching the memo’s exact contour, timing, and timbre is less than 0.3%.

The song “Savage Love” achieved unprecedented global success in mid-2020, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and accumulating over 2.1 billion streams on Spotify alone. It was certified 11x Platinum by the RIAA and earned Derulo nominations at the 2021 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Solo Performance. Publishing splits filed with ASCAP list Derulo, Kashani, and Texas-based producers Jawon “Jawon” Duncan and Marcus “BeatBoy” Lyle as the sole writers, each receiving an equal 25% share.

Moreno says he first learned of the song’s release through a TikTok trend in June 2020 and immediately recognized his melody. He claims he contacted Derulo’s management via email in July 2020 but received no response. He filed a copyright infringement suit in federal court in March 2021, which was later transferred to state court after Derulo successfully argued the case involved state-level contract and implied-in-fact claims rather than federal copyright alone.

Industry analysts note the case could set a precedent for how session contributors — particularly those who provide melodic ideas informally — are credited in the streaming era. “This isn’t just about one song,” said music rights advocate Tanya Fuentes of the Future of Music Coalition. “It’s about whether a hummed melody captured on a phone can be considered a protectable composition when it becomes the emotional core of a global hit.”

The trial is expected to last two weeks, with testimony scheduled from Kashani, Derulo’s vocal engineer, and two independent musicologists. No settlement talks have been publicly disclosed as of the opening statements. A verdict could determine whether Moreno is entitled to retroactive songwriting credits, a share of past royalties estimated at over $1.8 million, and future publishing rights.