Jason Derulo was back in a Los Angeles federal courtroom on Monday as a trial opened over who helped write and profit from “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat),” the 2020 hit that turned a TikTok beat into a chart-topper.
Jurors were shown a 2024 recorded deposition in which Derulo demonstrated how he says he directed key musical elements of the track. The video, filmed in a plain office setting, showed him answering questions by singing out guitar and bass parts he says he communicated to collaborators during early recording sessions in April 2020.
The case was brought by producer and guitarist Matthew Spatola, who says he should have been credited as a co-writer and paid a share of the song’s publishing royalties. Spatola’s lawyer, Thomas Werge, told jurors in opening statements that Derulo’s account was musically implausible, arguing that vocalizing melodies is fundamentally different from composing multi-note instrumental arrangements, particularly for a guitar.
Werge said Spatola helped shape Derulo’s version of the song during two in-person sessions at the singer’s home studio and was responsible for composing a key pre-chorus section and building what he called the track’s instrumental bed. Spatola received a $2,000 payment, but his legal team says he never signed away any rights to authorship or royalties.
The song itself started with a different artist. The viral beat originally created by Jawsh 685, born Joshua Christian Nanai, and first known as “Laxed” on TikTok, formed the foundation for “Savage Love.” When the final credits were issued, Nanai was listed as the sole producer and given 50 percent of the publishing, while Derulo received 25 percent, Jacob Kasher Hindlin 20 percent and Paul Greiss 5 percent. Spatola was left off the credits entirely.
Defense attorney Howard King Rosenberg said Nanai was the song’s primary creative force and argued that any contribution from Spatola was too small to merit formal recognition. That clash over authorship sits at the center of the lawsuit, which was first filed in 2023 and seeks a declaratory judgment naming Spatola as a co-author.
Werge also pointed jurors to passages from Derulo’s 2023 memoir, “Sing Your Name Out Loud,” saying the singer described releasing his version of the song online before he had formal agreements with Nanai, even after his manager warned against it and Columbia Records objected. That detail gave Spatola’s side a way to argue that the business side of the hit was as unsettled as the music itself.
Spatola took the stand as the first witness after opening statements and described his early musical training, saying he began playing guitar as a child before later moving from touring with artists such as The Weeknd and Kehlani into production work. The trial now turns on whether jurors believe Derulo’s version of how the song was made, or Spatola’s claim that his work helped define the track enough to earn him credit and royalties.
