A Grammy-winning artist and his mogul music manager claim they were swindled out of millions by a wealthy Silicon Valley power couple who stole their AI software idea in an elaborate scheme, an explosive lawsuit claims.
Songwriter and music producer Warren “Oak” Felder, who has written songs for Mariah Carey and Britany Spears, and his industry veteran partner, Lucas Keller, are suing tech husband and wife powerhouses Walter and Samia De Brouwer, accusing them of stealing their music copyright software.
The papers filed in Los Angeles set up a dramatic battle between the uber-rich Bay Area entrepreneurs and Southern California artists who claim they’ve been robbed of at least $5 million.
“Unscrupulous Silicon Valley scammers Walter and Samia De Brouwer put money before morals, exploiting the ideas and labor of a prolific songwriter and music producer,” the papers say.
Keller, who built global talent management company Milk and Honey Music + Sports that boasts Kansas City Chiefs Travis Kelce as a client, met the De Brouwers around 2016 and they “became close family friends,” according to the suit.
The 25-year music industry veteran says in 2023, he, Felder, and the De Brouwers discussed developing software to create music using AI.
Keller and Felder talked about the addition of a “copyright checker” so that the software would flag copyrighted chords,” the papers claim.
“The De Brouwers were enamored with the concept and wanted to be involved,” the lawsuit claims.
The tech couple agreed that if the two artists wrote the software, including the “copyright checker”, the Brouwers would pay Keller and Felder in stock options from their company “Snowcrash,” the lawsuit claims.
Snowcrash awarded Keller and Felder 345,000 shares each to be vested between November 2023 and November 2028, on Carta.com and Keller and Felder each accepted, the papers say.
Shortly afterwards, the De Brouwers “busied themselves with their fraudulent scheme,” by when they “coerced” Felder and Keller to assign the software patent to Snowcrash, according to the lawsuit.
The De Brouwers then formed a new company, Sound Patrol, and used that company to purchase virtually all of Snowcrash’s assets, including the patent, the papers read.
The move “drove the value of Felder and Keller’s stock options six feet under,” and the De Brouwers ended up “landing a highly lucrative licensing deal with Universal Music Group and Sony Music,” with Sound Patrol the lawsuit claims.
“Sound Patrol has not paid a penny to Keller or Felder for their work developing the software or for the patent,” the papers claim.
The duo say they’re owed in excess of $5 million and are seeking damages and the right to the software patent.
The De Brouwers are tech giants, having founded the AI company founding the AI company Doc.ai in 2016, which was then acquired by digital health company Sharecare, according to the company’s website.
Walter is listed as a co-founder along with Hollywood mogul, Michael Ovitz on the Sound Patrol website.
“With Michael Ovitz as Co-Founder, SoundPatrol gained direct access to the global entertainment industry, accelerating its deployment across music, sports, streaming, and beyond,” the website says.
Sound Patrol is also listed in the lawsuit as a defendant.
Both the De Brouwers and Sound Patrol were contacted for comment.
Keller represents over 70 top singers and songwriters and Felder has sold over 100 million records, the papers say.
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