Macklemore, Ryan Lewis Lose Bid to Boot Copyright Claim

A New Orleans musician can press on with his copyright infringement claim against hip-hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, a federal judge ruled.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has denied the “Thrift Shop” pair’s motion to dismiss jazz performer Paul Batiste’s lawsuit.

Batiste is far from winning his case. The musician, who has played with the Batiste Brothers Band since 1976, failed to sufficiently allege that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis had ever heard his songs, the court found.

As a result, he will have to prove the duo’s songs are “strikingly similar” to his, which ...