Tiger King lawsuit dismissed by Florida judge

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Joseph Maldonado, also known as Joe Exotic, after Maldonado claimed copyright infringement over songs feature in the Netflix documentary Tiger King.

Maldonado claimed many of the songs that became popular on the hit documentary were written and performed by himself, and sued Vince Johnson in efforts to wrestle away the copyright, according to Johnson’s attorneys at Shutts & Bowen LLP.

The Shutts legal team said Johnson wrote many of the songs from the Netflix series and had them performed by another artist.

Johnson reportedly defended himself for a year before the Shutts legal team, made up of Woodrow “Woody” Pollack, Brian Paul and Katie Chambers, agreed to handle his defense pro bono.

In 2020, Johnson signed a publishing deal with BMG to release songs from the documentary, such as the popular “I Saw a Tiger,” alongside new songs such as “Killer Carole,” both of which were released that year.

Maldonado sought $8 million in damages, claiming Johnson’s songs infringed on his copyrights and that Johnson violated a confidentiality agreement.

Shutts and Bowen said the copyright claims were dismissed and that a court-assisted settlement between Johnson and Maldonado was agreed to. The agreement included Johnson owing no money to Maldonado despite his previous demands of $8 million.

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