In the music Industry many artists
sample other artists’ music through out their songs. There have been several artists
sued for the having the proper clearance rights. These lawsuits teach me that
as an A&R coordinator, executive producer and C.E.O. of my own
Entertainment Company I will have to make sure my artists have the proper clearance
rights anytime their sampling another artist music.
Kanye
West was Sued in 2005 for the hit Gold Digger. According to Law360
A federal judge threw out most of the claims in a copyright lawsuit alleging
Kanye West stole a portion of 1970s Bumping
Bus Stop. The judge dismissed all claims because Pryor’s song was not substantial
enough to be actionable related to Gold
Digger. This settlement shows that there will be many people filling
lawsuits against you if they believed you did not use the proper clearance to
get the sample cleared.
Jay-Z was hit with a lawsuit for
his hit song Run This Town. The
lawsuit discussed that Jay-Z sampled Eddie Bo's "Hook & Sling
Part 1" without permission. The case was later dismissed. The judge
reported that one syllable did not constitute copy right infringement according
to the , the New York Times reports. The RollingStone shows that many people will try to sue you for syllables used in your
song. So it is important that I cover every aspect of any sampled songs.
The last lawsuit that shows that
you have to cover all aspects of using other artists’ music and lyrics is RickRoss lawsuit against LMFAO over their 2011 single, Party Rock Anthem, citing similarities to Hustlin. LMFAO used the words, "Everyday I'm shufflin' in their
chorus and they also made shirts using that phrase. The judge pointed out that
Rick Ross was not the first one to come up with the phrase so the phrase was
not copyrightable. Rick Ross lawsuit was thrown out and LMFAO was cleared. This
lawsuit shows that I have to cover all my clearance rights if I try to sue a
party that uses phrases from my artist. These cases shows that not all lawsuits
will be won but it is important to cover all your rights.
