Two songwriters may end up in a New York courtroom to determine who should get credit for the hit song, "Nobody Greater."
A Pennsylvania man, Travis Malloy, has sued Darius Paulk of metro Atlanta, EMI Christian Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, alleging he did not get credit for composing the music to the song, which was made popular by gospel artist VaShawn Mitchell.
The song, included on Mitchell's "Triumphant" CD, spent nine weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Songs chart and remains in the top five in its 61st week on the list. Mitchell, who lives in Atlanta, could not be reached for comment and is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, which was filed in August.
Paulk, reached at his metro Atlanta home, declined to be interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
But in a statement released by his spokesman, Paulk said he wrote the song “during a very traumatic period in my life in 2008. It’s my testimony. "
He calls the claim "baseless." Malloy "did not contribute to the creation of this song. I wrote the lyrics and melody by myself in the privacy of my home. "
Malloy could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Chris Brown or Brown & Rosen in Boston, declined to comment.
In the copy infringement and negligence claim, Malloy said he was approached by Paulk in May 2008, after Malloy performed during a church program. The next month, Malloy said he received a message from Paulk that he had written a song but did not have "a concrete melody and no music to put to the words." Malloy said he created, arranged and performed the music to "Nobody Greater" with Paulk's lyrics.
The song was later performed at several churches before it was released in 2010 by Mitchell. Malloy claims the music is overwhelmingly similar to what he composed.
The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, seeks at least $1 million.
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