The Neptunes Lawsuit: Hugo’s Copyright and Trademark Claims

The Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams lawsuit is a federal case Hugo filed in January 2026 accusing his longtime Neptunes partner of withholding royalties, hiding financial records, and filing trademarks on the duo’s name without his consent. Hugo has since amended the complaint to add copyright claims challenging Williams’s sole credits on eight songs released in 2022 for artists including Rosalía, Latto, and Nigo.

What Hugo Is Suing For

Hugo filed Charles Edward Hugo v. Pharrell Williams et al. on January 23, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.¹ The complaint accuses Williams of self-dealing, concealing financial information, and diverting revenues from their joint ventures. Hugo alleges that he asked Williams for financial records starting in August 2021 and received only “limited and incomplete information” in return.²

The financial claims focus heavily on the 2017 N.E.R.D. album No One Ever Really Dies. Hugo’s attorneys estimate he is owed between $325,000 and $575,000 from that album alone, and that total damages from album sales, touring income, and merchandise could reach between $750,000 and $1 million.³ Hugo says he has received no revenue since late 2023 from N.E.R.D. merchandising partnerships.⁴ He is seeking a jury trial and a full accounting of royalties from both The Neptunes and N.E.R.D.

The Copyright Claims Over Eight Songs

The case shifted on February 5, 2026, when Judge Andre Birotte Jr. ordered Hugo’s team to explain why the case belonged in federal court, since breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty are state law matters.¹ Hugo’s attorneys responded on February 12 with an amended complaint adding federal copyright claims that challenge Williams’s songwriting and production credits on eight tracks.

Hugo describes himself in the filing as the “principal composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and producer responsible for programming, instrumentation, and overall sound design” on the recordings.⁵ He calls Williams the “public-facing member of the duo” and says their work was always intended to be merged into joint works under a 50/50 split that Williams never honored.⁶

The eight songs, all released in 2022, are:

Rosalía — “Motomami” and “La Combi Versace”
Pharrell Williams — “Cash In Cash Out,” “Love Is Not Written,” “Pure,” and “Real One” (featuring Latto)
Nigo (featuring Tyler, the Creator) — “Lost and Found” and “Freestyle”

Hugo alleges Williams denied his status as a “joint author and co-owner of the copyrights” on these works and took full credit for his contributions without attribution or compensation.⁶ On February 18, 2026, Judge Birotte discharged the show-cause order, letting the copyright claims anchor federal jurisdiction.¹

The Trademark Fight That Came First

The public break started over the Neptunes name. In December 2022, PW IP Holdings LLC, a company owned by Williams, filed three trademark applications for “The Neptunes” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, on top of two earlier registrations covering musical sound recordings.⁷⁸

Hugo’s attorney, Kenneth D. Freundlich, called the filings a “land grab” done without Hugo’s knowledge and pointed out that a specimen submitted to the USPTO appeared to show The Neptunes’ Spotify page cropped to remove Hugo.⁷ In March 2024, Hugo filed a notice of opposition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board against the three 2022 applications and a petition to cancel the two earlier registrations.⁸ Those proceedings remained unresolved after settlement talks failed.⁹

Williams’s Response

A representative for Williams called the lawsuit “premature” and said a “standard accounting review” was already in progress. Williams had “consistently acted in good faith,” the representative said, and if the review found money was owed, “the appropriate party will pay it.”¹⁰ On the trademark side, Williams’s camp said he was “surprised” by the dispute, that the filings were meant to keep a third party from grabbing the name, and that Williams had “repeatedly offered to share ownership and administration” with Hugo. Hugo’s side responded that any sharing offers came with conditions restrictive enough to strip him of meaningful control or compensation.¹¹

Where the Case Stands

The copyright claims that keep the case in federal court also carry a timing problem. Under the U.S. Copyright Act, ownership disputes are subject to a three-year statute of limitations. All eight songs came out in 2022, and the amended complaint landed in February 2026, so the claims may fall outside that window.⁵ If the copyright claims are dismissed on those grounds, the remaining breach-of-contract and fiduciary-duty allegations would likely have to move to state court.³

As of March 2026, Williams had not filed a motion to dismiss, and the case remained pending before Judge Birotte.⁹

1
UniCourt. Charles Edward Hugo v. Pharrell Williams et al
2
The Guardian. Pharrell Williams Sued by Chad Hugo Over Neptunes and NERD Lost Earnings
3
Music Business Worldwide. Pharrell Williams Legal Battle With Ex-Neptunes Partner Widens
4
The Neptunes. Pharrell Sued by Neptunes Partner Chad Hugo Over Royalties Business Disputes
5
Forbes. Chad Hugo Updates Copyright Complaint Against Pharrell Williams
6
Complex. Chad Hugo Pharrell Credit Dispute
7
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal. What’s Going on With Pharrell and Chad Hugo
8
13NewsNow. Chad Hugo Pharrell Williams Petition to Cancel
9
The Virginian-Pilot. Pharrell Williams Sued by Longtime Business Creative Partner Chad Hugo
10
Billboard. Pharrell Williams Sued by Neptunes Partner Chad Hugo
11
Billboard. Pharrell Williams Chad Hugo Legal Dispute Neptunes Name Rights