Sampling music
has become an embedded part of the hip-hop culture. Even though sampling can be
found in almost every genre of music the hip-hop industry has used it to its
advantages from the very beginnings of the culture. The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rappers
Delight”, which arguably gave birth to mainstream hip-hop, used a sample of
Chic’s song “Good Times”.
Sampling in
hip-hop has always been an issue, especially in the legal community. Numerous
copyright infringement lawsuits have been brought against various artists
because of non-clearance of samples. We will examine three lawsuits recently
brought against hip-hop artist in regards to sampling and analyze each unique
situation.
Ericka Lee vs. Drake
In February of 2012 former associate,
Ericka Lee, sued Drake. Lee claimed that for the song “Marvin’s Room” off of
Drake’s Grammy winning album “Take Care”, she was co-writer and collaborator on
the track. Her voice can be heard in the opening song and chorus of the track
as an apparent recording from a voicemail. Originally Lee agreed to 4-5% or
royalties from the song and $50,000. After an apparent falling out between the
two and the success of the song, Lee wanted to be named co-writer and filed a
suit looking to recover damages and unpaid rewards for unjust enrichment.
Recently the two settled out of court and the case was
dismissed. Since Lee already agreed to fair compensation, Drake had all
the leverage in this situation. A falling out between parties does not
constitute a restructuring of an already agreed to deal. Terms of the
settlement were not disclosed, but I would bet that Lee did not walk away with
anywhere close to the amount she was looking for.
Vincent Peters vs. Kanye West
In 2010, rapper Vincent Peters sued Kanye West over
lyrics to West’s hit song “Stronger”. In the suit Peters claims that after he
sent his own version of “Stronger” to a mutual friend of both parties, West
then used Peter’s lyrics to help create his own track. The lyrical arrangement
based around the line “what don’t kill me make me stronger” was the basis of
the lawsuit filed against Kanye. However that lyric is actually a quote from
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and it has been used on various
occasions including in even more recent bodies of work (ex. Kelly Clarkson’s
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”. The case was recently dismissed in August of 2012. Even
though Peters did send a song with the same name and a similar line to what
Kanye used for his own song, the case still had no real means to stand behind.
The mass popularity of the line in question, and the originator of that line not
being Peters leave little room for copyright infringement against West.
Warrick/Lee vs. Rick Ross, Dr. Dre, & Jay-Z
In more recent
news, in February of this year a lawsuit has been filed against the
three hip-hop heavyweights because of copyright infringement on a song sample.
The song “Three Kings” by Ross, Dre, and Jay is in question for alleged
copyright infringement for illegal sampling of Ciara Sheppard Warrick and Jimmy
Lee Weary’s song “I’m So Grateful (Keep In Touch)”. The suit claims that
clearance was never given to use the song as a sample and the content within
the “Three Kings” track does not represent what Warrick/Lee intended for the
song to originally be perceived. Ross has credited the duo as co-writers in the
song but the duo claimed they have never been contacted for clearance or
compensation. The suit is unique because outside of the sample clearance being
questioned, the songs content is also in question. The suit claims Rick Ross
song is “inconsistent with Plaintiffs' wishes for how Plaintiffs' song would be
portrayed.” Ross may have to come out of pocket more than he would like in this
case. Even though the case is still in its early stages it seems that Ross did
not receive the proper permission to use the song sample. On top of that, the
content of the song not being consistent with that of the original works
content may be a key factor in the “unfair competition by misappropriation”
filed against them by the original songwriter duo.
These cases are
just a sample of the many cases similar to these in hip-hop. Reviewing these
three different cases shows the wide scope of what is included in copyright
infringement. The bottom line is whenever you look to use someone else’s work
to enhance your own song, you better have permission.
