Rapper Swizz Beatz sues popular Lake Norman nightspot over his ‘Party Up’ song
Rapper Swizz Beatz and several record labels sued a popular Lake Norman nightspot this week over claims the venue played their songs without permission for years, jilting them of royalties.
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In Swizz’s case, the song was “Party Up (Up in Here),” according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte Tuesday against BoatYard Lake Norman owner Chris Boukedes and his limited liability company, Hello Bye.
Boukedes didn’t return email and phone messages from The Charlotte Observer.
Boukedes has been a fixture on the Lake Norman dining and entertainment scene for decades. He and a business partner operated the former Galway Hooker in Cornelius from 2002 until the COVID pandemic, after bringing a real Irish pub, piecemeal, from Ireland and reassembling the building.
For several years, the lawsuit states, representatives of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers “have made numerous attempts to contact” Boukedes and others at his establishment “to offer an ASCAP license for Boatyard. ASCAP has contacted Defendants by telephone, by mail, and by e-mail.”
Boukedes “refused all of ASCAP’s license offers for Boatyard,” yet “continued to perform publicly copyrighted musical compositions written and owned by ASCAP’s members,” according to the lawsuit.
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Other plaintiffs in the complaint are Universal Music Corp., also for “Party Up;” Irish Intellect Music, for “Jump Around;” Stone City Music Co. for “Party All the Time;” and Benjamin Berger Publishing and W. Chappell Music Corp. for “Shut Up and Dance.”
BoatYard Lake Norman should have to pay up to $30,000 in damages, according to the lawsuit. That is the maximum amount under U.S. law.
The lawsuit was among a dozen copyright infringement complaints filed nationwide by ASCAP members against venues this week.
“Each of the establishments sued today has chosen to infringe upon the hard work of songwriters instead of licensing the music they play, despite repeated notifications and opportunities to do so,” Stephanie Ruyle, ASCAP executive vice president, head of licensing, said in a statement.
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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 2:57 PM.
