On October 16, Portland producer and rapper Aviel Hirschfield, who performs as GoodbyeCalev, sued Drake, OVO Sound, UMG Recordings and Universal Music Publishing in California federal court, alleging the chorus of "Janice STFU" was copied from a demo he recorded in January 2026 and sent to production duo FnZ and other Drake associates.

According to AllHipHop, the complaint said the chorus was "literally identical" to his copyrighted work in lyrics, melody and cadence, and that he completed his demo around January 25.

Then, on October 27, court documents confirmed by Rolling Stone and Complex showed Hirschfield dismissed the suit "in its entirety without prejudice" — meaning he could modify and refile it later, though Digital Music News notes the circumstances of the withdrawal have not been revealed.

Drake's team came out swinging immediately, calling the suit a "manufactured and baseless" attempt to exploit the rapper's name for money and attention, and stating flatly that "Drake wrote this song and has no connection or knowledge of this person, full stop."

Per Rolling Stone, the case also rested on a shaky timeline: Hirschfield claimed he wrote the chorus to a beat in January 2026, yet one of the song's producers told Billboard the beat wasn't written until March.

Skeptics online dissected the claims from the start, and HotNewHipHop reports the dismissal reads as both a legal and optics win for Drake, validating fans who questioned the suit from day one.

At the center of the case was a recording leaked to X, presented as Hirschfield's pitched-down demo of the familiar chorus.

A representative for the producer told Rolling Stone that "multiple experts" had examined the file's metadata and deemed it legitimate, and a lawyer for Hirschfield confirmed to Pitchfork that the leaked audio matched the recording submitted as evidence. But internet sleuths were unconvinced.

According to The Source, a YouTube creator called What's the Dirt isolated the demo's vocals, aligned them with Drake's official release, and found the waveforms matched identically — arguing the alleged demo was actually Drake's finished hook, pitch-shifted and filtered over a leaked FnZ instrumental.

The Source adds that Drake previewed an early version of the song, then titled "That's Just How I Feel," in a September 4, 2025 livestream, months before Hirschfield's demo was allegedly recorded.

The melody at issue wasn't fully original in the first place. According to The Source, Drake, OVO and UMG had already cleared the publishing with Lykke Li's team from the start, meaning Hirschfield was effectively claiming a melody Drake had already paid another artist to use.

AllHipHop notes Drake has a history with Li's catalog, having sampled her "Little Bit" on his 2009 mixtape So Far Gone. The irony, as Rolling Stone framed it, is that the hit borrows a chorus melody from a well-known 2011 song.

The accuser's profile shaped how the story was received. Hirschfield, 33, describes himself on LinkedIn as a studio manager, audio engineer and music producer, per Rolling Stone, which says it was unable to reach him directly for comment.

His most high-profile credit was co-writing Beyoncé's "Heated" from 2022's Renaissance — a song on which Drake is also credited, a connection his lawsuit leaned on heavily.

Rolling Stone notes that his exact role varies across published credits, from guitars and co-production to guitar only, and that a Beyoncé representative did not respond when asked to clarify. He has appeared at the Grammy red carpet and frequently posted about the album's success.

AllHipHop reported he said "Heated" money helped him buy gear for his Southwest Portland studio.

Because the dismissal was without prejudice, Hirschfield technically keeps the door open to refile or amend, as Digital Music News and The Source both note — though The Source counsels readers not to "hold your breath."

Complex reports his lawyer declined to comment on the withdrawal, and Hirschfield himself has not publicly spoken.

Meanwhile the song keeps running: Complex says "Janice STFU" has logged 23 weeks on the Hot 100 and currently sits at No. 24, while Digital Music News details its debut at No. 1 and a 20-plus-week run atop Hot Rap Songs.

The episode also echoes what copyright scholar Kevin Greene told Rolling Stone: songwriters weigh real professional costs before suing stars like Drake.

Producer Boi-1da, per The Source, put it more bluntly: "Every time you make a hit song there's always some weirdo plotting to say you stole it from them."