Overview
- Kim Schofield filed a federal lawsuit in New York naming John Cena, WWE, TKO, producer Jacob “Jake One” Dutton, Pix-Russ Music, and Cynthia Jo Russell as defendants.
- The suit alleges the horn-driven intro and outro of Cena’s entrance track were copied from original horn parts added to Pete Schofield’s 1974 instrumental cover of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.”
- Plaintiff limits the claim to the horn arrangement and not the Bobby Russell composition, asserting those horn elements are original and were sampled in a 2003 production.
- Schofield registered copyrights in 2024 and 2025 for the arrangement and the 1974 sound recording, while the Russell estate and publisher have challenged those registrations as derivative.
- Court records show no responses or proofs of service yet, and Schofield seeks to void the 2017 settlement and recover damages stated as in excess of $150,000, citing undisclosed licensing including a Toyota ad reported to have aired two days after the deal.