Quavo emerges from this legal battle with his reputation intact. No admission of wrongdoing, no public trial—just a clean dismissal that lets everyone move on. The 'Trappa Rappa' rollout stays pristine.
Insiders are speculating about what really happened behind closed doors. Did Quavo pay up quietly? Sources close to the matter hint at private negotiations before the June 15 filing, suggesting this wasn't as amicable as the dismissal implies.
Court filing date: Monday, June 15, 2026 (obtained first by Billboard). Original lawsuit filed in 2025. Sculpture created: 'Quartz Eroded 1961 Ferrari GT' in 2018. Video posted December 2024. Song 'Trappa Rappa' released February 2025.
Another day, another celebrity copyright skirmish that disappears into a sealed court filing. The real question isn't whether Quavo used Arsham's work—he clearly did—but what changed between last year's lawsuit and today's dismissal. We'll probably never know.
Quavo is officially in the clear. A federal court filing obtained by Billboard on Monday, June 15, confirms that sculptor Daniel Arsham has permanently dropped his copyright infringement lawsuit against the former Migos rapper—meaning the case over that very expensive-looking quartz Ferrari sculpture is dead and buried. For those just tuning in: Arsham sued Quavo last year after discovering the rapper had filmed a 45-second promotional video in front of the artist's "Quartz Eroded 1961 Ferrari GT" sculpture.
The clip, posted to both TikTok and Instagram in December 2024, featured Quavo rapping part of his then-unreleased track "Trappa Rappa." Arsham's legal team argued that using his sculptural work—part of a series depicting classic cars in an eroded, decaying state that he created back in 2018—for promotional purposes without permission or payment was a clear licensing violation. The lawsuit also initially named Quavo's label Quality Control Music and its parent company HYBE as defendants, though both were dropped from the case months ago.
What makes this dismissal juicy isn't just the outcome—it's what's conspicuously absent from the court filing. The notice of permanent dismissal does not specify whether Quavo paid any money to settle the matter. Arsham's attorney declined to comment when reached by Billboard, and a representative for Quavo didn't respond to requests for comment.
So while this lawsuit is officially over, we don't actually know how it ended. Did Quavo cut a check? Did someone on Arsham's team give unauthorized permission (as Quavo's lawyers claimed in May court papers)?
The public gets nothing but the dismissal itself. Quavo's legal team had been building an interesting defense before this thing got yanked. In May filings, his attorney previewed plans to argue "the absence of substantial similarity of protectible expression between the video and the photos, on the one hand, and the sculpture, on the other." Translation: they were going to claim that a short promotional clip doesn't really copy Arsham's three-dimensional artwork in any legally meaningful way.
They also planned to argue the content was "authorized by plaintiff's legal agent"—suggesting someone connected to Arsham gave permission for Quavo to use the sculpture, which would blow a hole in the entire copyright claim. The timing is worth noting: "Trappa Rappa" dropped as a single in February 2025, but according to the lawsuit, none of the official music visuals actually featured Arsham's Ferrari sculpture. That means Quavo used the artwork for promo purposes only—presumably to build buzz before the song's release—and then kept it out of the final product.
Whether that was strategic damage control or always part of the plan remains unclear. Either way, this case is now a footnote in celebrity copyright drama, joining the endless parade of artists versus celebrities who've borrowed a little too freely from someone's creative work for social media clout.
