Lizzo has officially moved past her latest courtroom drama. The Grammy-winning artist has reached a settlement in a copyright infringement lawsuit regarding her unreleased song, “I’m Going Til October.”
The legal trouble started after Lizzo shared a snippet of the track on social media to parody Sydney Sweeney’s viral 2025 American Eagle advertisement. The plaintiff, GRC Trust, accused the singer of using an unlicensed sample of Sam Dees’ 1970s soul classic, “Win or Lose (We Tried).”
A new court filing obtained by Billboard on January 9, 2026, confirms that both sides have reached a “settlement in principle to resolve all claims at issue in the action.” While the specific financial details of the agreement remain under wraps, the settlement effectively ends a dispute that centered on the definition of a music “release” in the age of social media.
Lizzo’s team had previously described the lawsuit as a “surprise,” arguing that since the track was never officially released or commercially monetized, it would be difficult to prove she profited from its existence.
Lawyers for GRC Trust pushed back against that defense, claiming it is “antiquated to claim that a song is not ‘released’ when it is streamed through TikTok” to millions of people. The track in question featured Lizzo rapping the line: “B***h, I got good jeans like I’m Sydney,” mocking the viral denim campaign that sparked controversy over its “good jeans/genes” play on words.
Despite the track’s popularity online, Lizzo’s camp maintained that “no decision has been made at this time regarding any future commercial release of the song.
The legal resolution comes shortly after Lizzo made headlines for her comments on the podcast “Million Dollaz Worth Of Game.” Speaking with hosts Gillie and Wallo, the singer expressed her frustration with modern sampling laws, which she believes unfairly target Black musical innovation.
I just feel like the theft of it all, putting theft on Black culture, that’s the part that kind of turns me off,” Lizzo shared. “Hip-hop’s medium was sampling. Sampling is a Black art that bred hip-hop. Hip-hop was born from sampling. And now sampling is synonymous with theft.”
With the settlement now finalized, it appears the “Sydney Sweeney” track will remain in the vault for the foreseeable future.
