Om'Mas Keith files countersuit in publishing battle with Frank Ocean

After receiving papers from Frank Ocean's lawyers in February, Channel Orange producer Om'Mas Keith entered into a publishing lawsuit wherein a claim was made to remove his name from all credits on both Blonde and Endless.

After several months, Keith has responded to the complaint with an affidavit and countersuit where he asks the court to legitimize his co-authorship of the 15 songs listed as well as damages as a result of copyright infringement, which he alleges Ocean has committed as a result of using his work without any legal agreement. There are additional claims involving the use of his name and likeness in Boys Don't Cry, the companion book to Blonde.

In the written testimony given to the courts this week, Keith claims that negotiations began in 2014 for his contributions to an upcoming Frank Ocean project (Blonde) and that he traveled alongside Frank up through August of 2016, providing production services as well as lyrical and musical songrwriting contributions.

Keith also listed the locations and services rendered for each recording listed in the claim. Here, Keith claims songwriting credits for "Be Yourself." The affidavit lists Keith as composer of the piece as well as key player, producer, and arranger. As Ocean's party points out in an amendment to the complaint in March, "Be Yourself" was originally written and arranged by Josiah Sherman (Buddy Ross). The instrumental track has been subsequently released by Ross as "Running Around."

The full court documents can be read below: