October 8, 2025
The decision marks the end of Gilbert-Daniels’s journey to prove copyright infringement.
P-Valley writer and producer, Katori Hall, is breaking her silence after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear her copyright infringement case brought by Dr. Nicole “Nicci” Gilbert-Daniels.
This closes the years-long legal battle over claims that Hall’s hit series P-Valley copied Gilbert-Daniels’s original work. Gilbert-Daniels took her case to the Supreme Court in April 2025. She argued that lower courts failed to properly assess the “qualitative value” of creative expression in works centering on Black women’s stories. The high court declined to hear the appeal, Docket 24-1251, without comment.
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, P-Valley creator Hall released a statement on Instagram. Hall has said very little since Gilbert-Daniels’s initial filing. She is now detailing the “vulnerable” ways she bared her “creative process” in an attempt to verify the originality of P-Valley.
“I disclosed that email along with over 16,000 pages–various drafts of the play, television pitches and treatments, and even an early pilot of P-VALLEY–all proof of my independent creation,” Hall wrote.
Hall asserts the ordeal has left her bruised both personally and professionally. Yet, she holds no ill will toward Gilbert-Daniels.
“While this long and arduous ordeal has tested my reputation and my patience, I wish the plaintiff peace. I am so thankful the truth has prevailed, allowing me to finally close this difficult chapter.”
Additionally, Gilbert-Daniels posted a statement on Instagram. The producer asserted that the rejection was due to a broken system that favored powerful Hollywood studios.
“By declining to hear this case, the Court missed a chance to address a troubling pattern: the near-automatic dismissal of creative plaintiffs’ claims before a jury ever hears them. Hollywood has won 99% of copyright cases over the past two decades, not because every artist was wrong, but because the system is built to favor the powerful.”
Gilbert-Daniels, a singer-songwriter and television producer known for her work with the R&B group Brownstone, filed suit in 2021. The singer alleged that the hit show drew heavily from her stage play and 2011 film Soul Kittens Cabaret. Both projects explored the lives of women navigating performance and survival in a nightlife setting. She argued that creator Katori Hall and Lionsgate used “substantial portions” of her concept without credit or compensation.
Federal courts repeatedly rejected Gilbert-Daniels’s claims. In December 2023, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson ruled that the two works overlap and amounted to “unprotectable ideas and stock elements.” The judge concluded that no reasonable jury could find copyright infringement under U.S. law. The Ninth Circuit upheld that decision in early 2024.
The denial marks the end of Gilbert-Daniels’ appeal options and leaves intact lower-court rulings that found P-Valley did not infringe on her intellectual property. The Starz series, which premiered in 2020, remains one of the network’s most critically acclaimed shows and was renewed for a third season in October 2022.
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